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THE CVLTS 
OF CAMPANIA 

BY 

ROY MERLE PETERSON 



PAPERS AND MONOGRAPHS 
OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY IN ROME 

VOLVME, I 



AMERICAN ACADEMY IN ROME 
1919 



Printed in Italy 



PRINTED FOR THE AMERICAN ACADEMY IN ROME 

by 
Accom. Editori Alfieri & Lacroix - Roma 
di LUIGI ALFIERI & O 



PREFACE. 



The present volume is the first of a new series entitled 
* Papers and Monographs of the American Academy in Rome". 
The material was prepared by Mr. Peterson in 1919, but owing 
to the difficulty and expense of printing in the period following 
the war, it has not been possible to publish it until now. 
Mr. Peterson has been much occupied since his return to 
America and has not been able to revise his text in the light 
of the most recent literature sa it has been thought best to date 
the volume as of 1919. 

The second volume of the series will be by Miss L. R. 
Taylor, on the Cults of Etruria. She has already prepared 
her manuscript, and the book should be ready for distribution 
early in the year 1923. 



Ill • 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Page 

Preface Ill 

Table of Contents V 

List of Abbreviations VII 

List of Chapters : 

I, The Development of Religion in Campania 1 

II, Cumae, Baiae, Misenum 45 

III, Puteoli 99 

IV, Neapolis 165 

V, Pompeii and Herculaneum 222 

VI, Nuceria, Stabiae, Surrentum, Capreae 291 

VII, Capua 317 

VIII, Nola and the Minor Campanian Towns 377 

Addenda 396 

Index 401 



LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. 

To avoid unnecessary repetition, the volumes to which most 
frequent reference is made will be cited merely by the name 
of the author, as follows : 



Beloch, - Campanien, 2nd ed. Breslau 1890. 

Buck, - A Grammar of Oscan and Umbrian, Boston, 1904. 

Conway, - The Italic Dialects, Vol. I, Cambridge 1897. 

D.-S., - Daremberg et Saglio, Dictionnaire des antiq. Gr. et Rom. 

D., - Dessau, Inscriptiones Latinae selectae, Berlin 1892-1914. 

Diels, - Sibyllinische Blatter, Berlin 1890. 

Dubois, - Pouzzoles antique (Bib. des ecoles francaises d'Athenes e de 

Rome XCVIII) Paris 1907. 
Farnell, - The Cults of the Greek States I-V, Oxford 1896-1909. 
Fowler, - The Religious Experience of the Roman People, London 1911. 
Garucci, - Le monete delV Italia antica, Rome 1885. 
Gruppe, - Griechische Mythologie (Handbuch der klassischen Altertumswis- 

senschaft V, 21 Munich 1906. 
Helbig, - Wandgematde der vom Vesuv verschuiteten Stadte Campaniens, 

Leipsig 1868. 
Mav, - Pompei in Leben und Kunst, 2nd ed. Leipsig 1908. 
Mau-Kelsey, - Pompeii, Its Life and Art, Trans, by F. W.Kelsey, 2nd ed. 

New York 1902. 
Meyer, - Geschichte des Altcrtums II, Stuttgart 1893. 
Nissen, - Italische Landeskunde II, Berlin 1902. 
P.-W. - Paulys-Wissowa, - Real-Encycl. d. klass. Altertumswissenschaft, 

Stuttgart 1894--. 
Preller-Jordan, - Rdmische Mythologie, 3rd ed., Berlin 1881-1883. 
Preller-Robert, - Griechische Mythologie, 4th ed., Berlin 1894. 
Roscher, - Lexikon d. gr. und rem. Mythologie, Leipsig 1884--. 
Sambon (A), - Les monnaies antiques de V Itatie, I, Paris 1903. 
Vaglieri, - Sylloge epigraphica orbis Romani, Vol. II, pars I, Rome 1904. 
Von Planta, - Grammatik der Oskisch-umbrischen Dialekte II, Strassburg 

1897. 
Wissowa, - Religion u. Kultus d. Rcmer, 2nd ed., Munich 1912. 



VII 



CHAPTER I. 
THE DEVELOPMENT OF RELIGION IN CAMPANIA, 



Our knowledge of the religious conditions of the Roman 
world has made great progress within the last few decades. 
But treatises dealing with this topic are generally written from 
the standpoint of the City itself; the cults in other places are 
treated cursorily or relegated to allusions in the notes. In some 
cases the provinces have not been neglected, but little has 
been done systematically to bring together and examine the 
scattered information which we possess about the cults of the 
Italian cities outside of Rome (1). As a result such information 
is difficult to find and not seldom inaccurate because of the 
lack of systematic study and comparison. 

Yet the life and activity of these cities were of the high- 
est importance for the welfare of the Empire. Men born 
and reared here rather than at Rome were the leaders in pol- 
itics and literature. Of special importance through many cen- 
turies of history was the old and populous district of Campania. 
As a geographical term, this was used by the ancients with 
considerable elasticity for the territory along the western coast 
of Italy between the Mediterranean Sea and the Samnite 
mountains. The western offshoot of this range, extending 
through the peninsula of Sorrento, bounded it on the south. 
Certain authors as Strabo, Pliny and Mela, who evidently 
derive their information from a common source, agree in 

(1) The cults of Sicily have been more often treated. See Ciaceri, Culti 
e miti nella storia dclV antica Sicilia; Tropea, Carte teotopiche della Sicilia 
antica in Riv. di Storia antica VI (1902) 467 f. ; Pareti, Per una storia dei culti 
della Sicilia antica in Studi siciliani ed italioti 227 f. 



naming Sinuessa » fUe last city in Latium, and thus do not 
admit ttie me of the term Campania for the district north of 
tfte River Liris, which later was all included in the same re- 
gion (1). As used in this treatise its meaning will be still more 
restricted and it will be confined to the district the northern 
boundary of which is the river called by the ancients Vol- 
turnus. As thus defined, Campania may easily be divided into 
two parts, which differ in their physical characteristics and to 
some extent in their respective fortunes. There is first the 
narrow strip of volcanic coast land depending largely upon 
commerce for its prosperity; separated from this section by 
Vesuvius, Gaurus and other mountain formations is the in- 
terior plain with interests primarily agricultural. 

In comparison with the long period covered by Campa- 
nian history and the dense population of the country little 
material has survived to throw light upon their beliefs and 
observances. The writers who have made so many allusions 
to the shrines and deities of the capital city, are remarkably 
silent about those of all the dependent Italian cities, even 
when these were so important as Capua and Puteoli. Archaeo- 
logical evidence for the different localities is very uneven. On 
the one hand something has been discovered of most of the 
temples of the relatively unimportant town of Pompeii, while 
the larger cities mentioned above are represented only by 
scattered inscriptions and the most fragmentary remains. It is 
then the task of the imagination to seize upon the cold and 
lifeless remains of Pompeian temples, people them once more 
with divinity, priest, and worshipper, and fill them with the 
incense of sacrifice and the sound of prayer, so that they may 
reappear somewhat as in the days of the distant past, when 
amid the surging life of the city round about them they formed 
the basis upon which the welfare of the state and the faith 
of the individual was founded. If this can be accomplished, 
we shall have before us a comprehensive picture revealing 

(1) Mela II, 71; Strab. V. 2, 1; Plin. nat. Ill, 59; Hiilsen, Campania P. - 
W. Ill, 1434; Jung, Grundriss der Geographie von Italien 25 f . ; Beloch, 0ffi 
dei Lined series HI, X (1882-3) 430 and Campanien 1 f. ; Ruggiero, Campania 
II, 42; Lanzoni, he origini del cristianesimo e dell' episcopate nella Campania 
romana in Riv. atorico-crit. delle scienze teoL VI (1910) 25. 

- 2 - 



many secrets of ancient life. For it must be remembered 
that in the past there was little definite separation either in 
theory or in practice between political and religious institu- 
tions; both were interwoven at the beginning and only by 
degrees did they separate (1). 

Details of the picture are furnished by the epigraphical 
evidence, unsatisfactory as this is for most of the region un- 
der discussion by reason of the lack of systematic and scientific 
excavations. It affords many a glimpse into the intimate 
thoughts and life of people in all the various social conditions. 
Here we find the testimonies of esteem paid to the worthy 
municipal priest for his faithfulness as an official, and notice 
the pardonable pride of the aristocratic priestess who during 
her own lifetime raised a monument to record her honors. 
We witness the piety of humble dedicators who thank the 
gods for escape from a raging sea or for the restoration of 
freedom. We behold the crowds that throng the mysteries and 
depart with confidence in the hope of an assured immortality. 
In short we have before us a panorama exhibiting the emotions 
and the aspirations of humanity (2). 

PRIMITIVE CAMPANIAN RELIGION. 

The early civilization of this region was marked by the 
presence of divergent and, to a large extent, conflicting ele- 
ments. To a primitive race of Oscan stock, which dwelt in 
these parts, were added contingents of Greek colonists who 
established themselves along the coast, and an influx of E- 
truscan invaders who secured the domination of the interior* 
In the second half of the fifth century B. C, the Samnites, 
descending from the mountains, became supreme at all points, 
and so continued till the aggressions of Rome overthrew their 
power. All these peoples naturally had their own religious 
beliefs and interests, which reacted upon and sensibly mod- 
ified one another. But as a result of the paucity of notices 
which have reached us, little specific information is at hand 

(1) Cp. Trede, Das Heidentum in der rotnischen Kirche 1, 50. 
(2) See e. g. pp. 93, 106, 231, 356. 

. 3 - 



about the contribution of each element to the resulting civili- 
zation, the character of which itself is known only in a general 
way. So far as the various cults are concerned, it is often diffi- 
cult to determine the origin of the deities worshipped, and 
generally impossible to obtain an exact idea of the date of 
their introduction. Even at Rome the beginnings of most of 
the forms of religion are shrouded in obscurity and their sub- 
sequent development is disputed; here, where the evidence is 
much less abundant, the problem is still harder and does not 
always admit a solution. 

The divinities recognized by the primitive inhabitants 
were conceived in the vague and general sort of way asso- 
ciated with the animistic stage of religion. Though the forces 
and objects for which they stood can generally be inferred, 
these shadowy beings were separated from one another by 
no sharp line of demarcation either in name or in function. 
Thus one idea was frequently represented by several gods 
with different names, who when finally analyzed become in 
reality a single divinity. Yet as happened in the case of both 
the Samnites and the Latins, certain of these deities, develop- 
ing a more concrete form, became actual personalities with 
constant characteristics, while their erstwhile companions and 
competitors faded away into total obscurity (1). They are prob- 
ably the ones that appear in the few Oscan inscriptions which 
have come down to us. In other words the known deities of 
the pre-Roman era were probably worshipped by the old Os- 
can population, and were not introduced by the Samnite in- 
vaders. The latter in general seem to have been devoted to 
divinities similar to those of their predecessors in this region, 
and their invasion could not have produced much difference 
from a religious point of view. Traces of the old Oscan deities 
are widely scattered throughout this territory, appearing along 
the coast as well as in the interior. 

Gabrici, istudying the evidence of south Italian coins, 
believes that they indicate the veneration of certain primitive 
divinities generally throughout this region, one a male deity 

(1) Conway, Ancient Italy in Hastings, Encyclopaedia of Religion and 
Ethics VII, 458; Fowler, Religious Experience of the Roman People 116; 
Carter, Religion of Numa 5 ; Nissen, Pompeianische Studien 328. 

- 4 - 



of solar and terrestrial character, the other a goddess with 
lunar and chthonic attributes. The first one he considers to 
have been very influential in Campania and to have been ex- 
pressed there especially by the well known bull with human 
face which is frequently seen upon Campanian coins. Since 
the early coins of Asiatic cities show similar types, he infers 
that the conceptions of divinities current in southern Italy were 
largely due to Oriental influence introduced by emigrants from 
that region. This view, however, can be regarded at present 
only as a suggestive hypothesis (1). 

More tangible evidence exists for the worship of several 
deities that had exact parallels at Rome. In this category of 
old Italian gods Diovis, who corresponds to the Latin Jupiter, 
had a prominent place, and is represented on the earliest coin- 
age of Campania and neighboring districts. To be more ex- 
act, several forms of this god originally independent one of 
the other were honored in this locality; among them was 
conspicuous a divinity represented in Latin by the term lu- 
piter Liber, who is mentioned in both Oscan and Latin in- 
scriptions. Another Jupiter called Flazzus is not well under- 
stood because of the meager evidence for his existence, but 
he has been usually associated with the Roman Fulgurator (2). 
According to Servius the Oscan Jupiter was especially a god 
of light whose most general epithet was Lucetius; but no 
mention of this name has been preserved in the cities of Cam- 
pania, nor has any trace appeared of the epithets Versor and 
Vicilinus found in other localities which were peopled by a 
kindred race (3). 

It has generally been assumed that a goddess correspond- 
ing to Juno was honored by the old Italians and worshipped 
in Campania and the other Oscan territories as well as among 



(1) Gabrici, Sul valore dei tipi monetali nei problemi storici, elnogra- 
fici e religiosi in Atti del Congresso internazionale di scienze storiche 1903, 
VI, 72-73 and Miscellanea Salinas 126 f. 

(2) See p. 396 of the Addenda. 

(3) Serv. A en. IX, 567. Versor occurs in a Sabellian inscription from 
Bruttium written in Greek, Vicilinus is cited from Compsa (Samnium). Cp. 

Pexdrizet, Jupiter D.S. Ill, 709; Aus^., /tipper, Roscher II, 640. 

-5 - 



the Umbrians (1). This view, however, has been attacked by 
Otto, who while recognizing the wide diffusion of the cult, 
insists that this was not true for the earlier period, but was 
due to Roman influence (2). In fact, although a few cults of 
Juno in Campania are attested by evidence coming from the 
Republican period, it is not impossible to consider them as 
established after the power of Rome became strong in southern 
Italy. To this class belong those of Nuceria, Mt. Gaurus and 
Celenna. Yet the evidence for denying the worship of Juno to 
the early period of Campania is wholly negative, and the prob- 
ability of ancient cults in some places is strong, though it 
is clear that the worship of the goddess did not attain here 
the prominence which it reached in central Italy (3). 

The pure Italic origin of Diana is undisputed. She was 
a patron of fertility in the vegetable and animal worlds, and 
was honored especially by women as a goddess who presides 
over child birth (4). Her shrine at Mt. Tifata near Capua and 
Casilinum was one of the oldest with which we are acquainted, 
though the extant inscriptions referring to it go back no far- 
ther than the first century B. C. In importance it vied with the 
sanctuaries at Aricia and Rome. In the interior cities such as 
Capua the early Italic form of Diana as well as of Jupiter and 
Juno continued to be very prominent during the era of the 
Roman Republic. It is true that they were modified to some 
extent by Greek influences coming from the coast, but it is 
not correct with Albert to speak of them as Greek gods (5). 
The Latin Venus, who seems to have been a divinity orig- 
inally connected with fields and gardens, was paralleled in 
Oscan Campania by a goddess called Herentas. South Italy 
in general was well supplied with Venus cults (6). In one form 

(1) Roscher, Juno II, 576; Hild, Juno D.-S. Ill, 684; Aust, Religion der 
Romer 125. 

(2) W. F. Otto, Juno in Philologus LXIV (1905) 173. 

(3) Wissowa, 187, See pp. 293, 337. 

(4) Birt, Diana, Roscher I, 1002; Wissowa, Diana P.-W. V, 328; Paris 
Diana D.-S. II, 154. 

(5) Albert, Le Culie de Caster et Pollux en Italic 46. 

(6) Old Venus cults in Latium are cited from Ardea, Lavinium, Alba, 
and Gabii. Cp. Sechan, Venus D.-S. V. 733, 735 ; Preller- Jordan, I, 435 ; Wis- 
sowa, 290, 291. 

-6 - 



or another cults that seem to be old are known to have existed 
not only at Capua in the interior but also at Pompeii and Her- 
culaneum on the coast. Preller believed that Venus Felix was 
a deity worshipped especially in Campania and as such formed 
the model of the celebrated Pompeian goddess, but this opin- 
ion has been refuted by Wissowa (I). The early cults, how- 
ever, were afterwards modified by the introduction of the 
Sicilian Aphrodite from Mt. Eryx, as happened also at Rome. 

The cult of Fortuna, which was widespread at an early 
date among various Italian peoples, was important at Oscan 
Capua. She was probably worshipped in this region as else- 
where as a kind of protective influence, and not unlikely was 
regarded as a goddess interested in motherhood (2). In the 
Greek settlements along the shore, however, this form of re- 
ligion was introduced at a late date as a result of Roman in- 
fluence. 

The Oscan equivalent for Ceres occurs in inscriptions, 
where the word not only stands for a specific deity but also 
• is used as an epithet for a number of poorly defined divinities. 
The specific goddess Ceres was later identified with the Greek 
Demeter and reverenced as a goddess of agriculture. As a 
mother goddess she resembled Fortuna; as Ceres Ultrix she 
was invoked in imprecation tablets to promote vengeance. A 
deity corresponding to the Latin Libera was probably in exis- 
tence, who under Greek influence was associated with Ceres. 
Her Oscan name is unknown (3). The supposition of Preller, 
approved by Nissen, that this goddess was identical with the 
Venus found at Pompeii and Capua has nothing to recommend 



(1) Preller-Jordan, I, 448; Nissen, Pomp. Studien 343; Wissowa. Dc Ve- 
neris simulacris Romanis in Gesammelie Abhandlungen 23. 

(2) Besides the well known shrines at Antium and Praeneste, temples 
were located on the frontier between Cales and Teanum, at Fanum Fortunae in 

Umbria, and probably at Beneventum. Cp. Peter, Fortuna, Roscher I, 1548; 
Otto, Fortuna P.-W. VII, 13; Wissowa, 258; Dieterich, Mutter Erde 79; 
Carter, The Cognomina of the Goddess « Fortuna » in Trans, and Proc. of the 
Am. Phil. Assoc. XXXI (1900) 60. 

(3) Mommsen, Unteritalische Dialekte 273; Buck, Grammar of Oscan and 
Umbrian 258; F. Lenormant, Ceres D.-S. I, 1078; Wissowa. Ceres $ P.-W. Ill, 
1974. 

- 7 - 



it (1). Likewise the Greek name Hebon, applied especially 
to the Dionysus of Neapolis, seems to represent some native 
Campanian designation for the god Liber (2). Then too va- 
rious places had local divinities not recognized outside of a 
small radius; such were to be found in places of a peculiar 
character such as Lake Avernus, the Phlegraean Fields and 
Mt. Vesuvius, where perhaps Cacus was honored, or a god 
corresponding to the Roman Vediovis who was held in awe 
and reverence in localities subject to volcanic activity (3). 
While the cult of the Genius may be an old Italian observance, 
no evidence for it can be found before the era of Roman in- 
fluence (4). 

ETRUSCAN INFLUENCES. 

The early religious state of the country was affected by 
the arrival of Greek settlers and Etruscan invaders. As prov- 
ed by the evidence of graves which have been excavated, 
the influence of the Etruscans was second in point of time, 
but it may be treated first because it must be passed over 
briefly on account of our present ignorance of the subject (5). 
It was clearly less than that which emanated from the Greek 
colonies on the coast, as the ideas current there had already 
had an opportunity of being disseminated through the interior 
in the period that antedated the arrival of the Etruscans. A- 
gain, the prominence of the latter was of no long duration, 
amounting according to the Roman historians to only half a 
century (6). On the other hand the influence of the Etruscans 
must not be unduly minimized. In material things it was very 
important, a fact demonstrated noticeably in the case of pot- 
tery, and to a less extent, because of the lack of surviving 

(1) Preller-Jordan, II, 50; Nissen, Pomp. Studien 328. 

(2) Mommsen, Unteritalische Dialekjte 133. 

(3) Winter, The Myth of Hercules at Rome *n Unit?, of Mich. Studies 
IV, 268; Frothingham, Vediovis the Volcanic God in Am. Jour. Phil XXXVIU 
(1917) 388. 

(4) Meyer, II, 528. 

(5) Sogliano, Cuma ltalica in Miscellanea Salinas 61, 

(6) Patroni, Buccheri Campani in Studi e mat. I, (1899-01) 290 f. 

- o - 



material, in architecture (I). Furthermore, it is known that 
this people profoundly affected the religion of the Roman 
people and it is reasonable to suppose that they left an im- 
press similar in kind, if not in degree, upon the religious no- 
tions prevalent in Campania. Some of the features which ap- 
parently entered this region after it had been exposed to 
Roman influence were probably obtained directly from the 
Etruscans at a much earlier period. Thus the cult of the Lares, 
provided that it was an offshoot of the Etruscan religion, may 
well have been derived from them by the Campanians (2). 
Likewise the myth of Telephus at Capua probably came from 
the Etruscans rather than through the agency of the Greeks 
at Cumae (3). The principle of grouping three divinities to- 
gether so as to form a triad has been associated with Etruria, 
but triads that probably existed in southern Italy before 
the Roman period can be explained as of Greek origin (4). 
On this point as onl others no definite information is attainable. 
Etruscan documents from Campania which have a bear- 
ing on the religious conditions of the times are confined to 
a single example, discovered in the necropolis of the ancient 
Capua. Although the sense of the whole is far from clear, 
there seems to be a mention of certain offerings probably 
made to the gods of the nether world (5). Torp considers that 

(1) Pais, Ancient Legends of Roman History 250 and Storia di Roma 
I, part 2, 360. 

(2) The derivation of the cult of the Lares from Etruria is supported 
among others by Lattes and most of the specialists in Etruscology, See Lattes, 
Rend, del r. 1st Lombardo series 2, XXV (1892) 517; De Marchi, II culto privato 
di Roma antica I, 31 (with bibliography). This view is opposed by Jordan, 
Preller-Jordan, I, 82 and Wissowa, Lares, Roscher II, 1869. 

(3) See p. 358. 

(4) Usener, Dreiheit in Rh. Mus. LVHI (1903) I f. Cp. Herbig, Etruscan 
Religion in Hastings Encyclopaedia V, 534; Carter, Religious Life of Ancient 
Rome 26; Thulin, Rh. Mus. LX (1905) 256 f. 

(5) Biicheler, Die campanisch-etrusk^che Urkunde in Rh. Mus. LV. 
(1900) 2; Lattes, Primi appunti sulla grande iscrizione etrusca trovata a S. Maria 
di Capua in Rend, del r. 1st. Lombardo series 2 XXXIII (1900) 541, and Nuovi 
appunti intorno alia grande iscrizione etrusca di S. Maria di Capua in Rend, del 

r. 1st. Lombardo series 2 XL (1907) 737 f. ; Torp. Bemerkungen zu der estrusk*- 
chen Inschrift von S. Maria di Capua in Skrifter udgivne af Videnskabs-Selskflbet 

i Christiania 1905 N°. 5 and Etruskische Beitrage, Zweite Reihe in Softer ud- 
givne af V idenskabs-Sels^abet i Chr stiania 1906, N. 8, pp. 9, 18 f. 

- 9 - 



an enumeration of divinities appears comprising Suri, Letham, 
Uni, Laran ( ?), Thaur, Turms, and Calu. Lattes adds that the 
inscription commemorates the performance, of funeral rites 
at the tomb by an unknown priest (1). It seems to be of late 
date, not earlier than the fourth century, - a circumstance 
which points to the presence of a number of Etruscans in Cam- 
pania long after the Samnite conquest. It has been suggested 
by Pais that they lived here for religious reasons and belong- 
ed to certain families who had the hereditary duty of serving 
particular divinities (2). This accords with the belief that 
gods belonging especially to one race could not have ministers 
from another. 

THE INTRODUCTION OF GREEK CULTS ALONG 
THE COAST. 

As already stated the inhabitants of Campania had come 
in contact with Greek religious notions at an early period 
through the establishment of colonies along the coast. The 
oldest Greek divinities were gods prominent in eastern Boeotia 
and Euboea, who were introduced into the first settlement at 
Cumae. Here belong the gods of the phratries introduced at 
Cumae and then carried to Neapolis, who include local deities 
from both sides of the Euripus (3). The place of first rank 
was occupied by Apollo, who seems to have been associated 
with many phases of life and to have served as prophet, healer 
and patron of colonies. At Chalcis in fact colonies were re- 
garded as tithes paid to Apollo (4). The same source was re- 
sponsible for the introduction of Demeter Thesmophoros, who 
was worshipped at Eretria and who in Campania has left 
traces of her presence (5). At the same time doubtless came 

(1) Torp, op. cit. 4; Lattes, Atti Nap. XXV (1908) 108. The latter reads 
the conclud'ng words as an equivalent to Veltur deus scripsit, a formula adop- 
ted by the officiating priest, Lattes, Rend, del r. 1st. Lombardo XXXIII (1900) 
560, 561. 

(2) Pais, Ancient Legends 251. 

(3) Busolt, I, 393. 

(4) Strab. VI, I, 6; Gruppe, 58; Roscher, Apollo I, 441 ; Wernicke, } Apol- 
ion P.-W. II, 18, 73. 

(5) Beloch, 156; Gruppe, 65 f . ; Plutarch, Quaest. Graec. 31. 

- 10 - 



Demeter's daughter Cora with whom she was associated in 
the mysteries. The cult of the Dioscuri, which was very im- 
portant at Neapolis, seems to have been one of the oldest cults 
recognized at Cumae. It is generally assumed that it spread 
through Italy starting from Locri and Tarentum; in this event 
it must have reached the Campanian coast at an early date (I). 
But it may well have come with the Euboean colonists. Though 
its presence is not well attested in Euboea and Boeotia as early 
as the colonization period, it nevertheless belonged to one of 
the old, widely diffused cults traces of which have been found 
in many localities (2). Statius, therefore, may be following 
an authentic tradition, when he groups the Dioscuri with A- 
polio and Demeter and calls them dii patrii of his native 
town (3). With the two mystery goddesses mentioned above 
was associated Dionysus, who at least at Neapolis bore the 
epithet Hebon. Although there is no definite trace of the way 
he reached Campania, it has been inferred that he was brought 
from Boeotia (4). Among other deities whose worship was 
probably transplanted to Italy with the Chalcidian colony 
may be mentioned Zeus, Hera, Hermes, Artemis, and Aphro- 
dite, who were revered generally among the Greeks in early 
times and were prominent in Euboea and its dependancy, east- 
ern Boeotia (5). With Artemis came perhaps the legend of 
Orestes, which has left no traces at Cumae but which flour- 
ished at Aricia. It may have come to the latter from the former, 

(1) Gruppe, 373; Albert, Le culte de Castor et Pollux 8 f . ; Sambon, Les 
monnaies antiques de Vltalie I, 192. 

(2) Bethe, DiosJ^aren P.-W. V. 1101; Furtwangler, Dioskuren, Roscher 
I, 1164; Foucart, Bull corr. hell. IX (1885) 403. 

(3) See pp. 66, 187. 

(4) Gruppe, 367. 

(5) Eitrem, Hera, P.-W. VIII, 371 and Hermes, P.-W. VIII, 739-40; Ro- 
scher, Hera I, 2080-1 and Hermes, I, 2350; FameH, Cults of the Greek States \, 
179, 247, 253, II, 425; Wernicke, Artemis P.-W. II, 1403, 1406; Gruppe, 367; 

cp. 210, 306. The importance of the cults of eastern Boeotia compared with those 
of Euboea itself is discussed by Gruppe, 365. The covers of funeral urns found in 
Campania often show the standing figure of a man bearing a sheep. Von Duhn 
identified him as Hermes Kriophoros known at Tanagra and explained his 
presence as due to the influence of that city exercised through Chalcis. But this 
theory has been more recently denied. Von Duhn, Ann. Inst. LI (1879) 143 f . ; 
Milchhofer, Die Anfdnge der Kunst in Griechenland 212 f . ; Busolt, I, 393 . 

- 11 - 



as there were rather intimate relations between them, and 
both formed an alliance against the Etruscans, the traditional 
date of which is the end of the sixth century B. C. (1). 

The same people brought with them a knowledge of the 
Homeric traditions. Early navigators, who had made their 
way to the western seas, had been impressed with the won- 
ders of nature manifested along the Campanian coast, and 
imagined it to be the abode of various demons. The most distinct- 
ive points of this region were now definitely identified with 
the adventures of Odysseus, and myths dealing with this sub- 
ject were localized at different places along the shore (2). 
At the same time was introduced the legend of the combat 
between gods and giants; localized first at Phlegra in the 
western peninsula of the Chalcidice, it became associated later 
with the so-called Phlegraean Fields in Campania. As the 
rich lands around Nola and Capua seemed worthy enough to 
be desired by the gods, this name was sometimes applied to 
them; the scene of the actual conflict however was generally 
assumed to be the volcanic district about Cumae and Pu- 
teoli (3). It is also probable that the legend of Aeneas was 
known at an early date in the vicinity of Chalcis and that it 
was borne thence to the coast of Italy (4). The priority of the 
myth in Campania however before it was known at Rome is 
not entirely certain, as it may have been introduced in both 
localities from Sicily, where especially at Mt. Eryx the cult 



(!) Dion. Hal. V, 36; Uv. II, 14; Busolt, II, 275. Pais, however, holds 
that the Orestes cult was derived from lower Italy (Rhegium) and Sicily (Messana) 
where it was connected with that of Artemis Phacelitis. Pais, Gli dementi san- 
nitid e campani nella piik antica civilta romana in Atti Nap, XXI (1900-1) 133 
= Ricerche stor. e geog. 427. Cp. Gruppe, 367. 

(2) Ed. Meyer, II, 483; Gruppe, 369; Weicker, Der Seelenvogel 62; De 
Petra, Parthenope Sicula in Miscellanea Salinas 81 ; Patroni, Intorno al mito 
delle Sirene in Riv. di fil. e d'isir. class. XIX (1891). 

(3) Diod. V, 71; Strab. V, 4, 6 (245); Eustath. on Dionys. Perieg. 357; 
Tzetzes on Lycophron 688; Ilberg, Giganten Roscher I, 1648. The myth of the 
Giants around Cumae was explained rationally by Strabo, V, 4, 3. Preller-Robert, 
75; Pais, Stor. exit. 237, 249. 

(4) Gruppe, 369; Oberhummer, Chal\is P.-W. HI, 2081; Pais, Stor. 
crit. I, 238-239. 

- 12 - 



of Aphrodite was very strong (1). In any case the myth of 
Aeneas was associated 1 with the worship of that goddess rather 
than with the cult of Apollo as was maintained by O. Miil- 
ler (2). It is then uncertain whether the legend of Aeneas 
was introduced here in a form different from that which it 
assumed at Rome or whether in Campania it developed cer- 
tain peculiarities, which were probably reproduced in the 
work of the Campanian poet Naevius. Besides influencing 
geographical nomenclature, as in the case of Misenum, and 
the promontory of Palinurus farther south, it became asso- 
ciated with Capua, whose founder Capys was asserted to be 
the cousin of Aeneas (3). 

According to Midler's theory the cult of Apollo and the 
traditions centering about Aeneas came to Cumae with the 
colonists from Aeolic Kyme (4). The same origin has been 
ascribed to the Sibylline prophecies found at Cumae (5). But 
in addition to any other objections that might be brought a- 
gainst these views, there is the possibility that the Kyme cited 
as participating in the earliest colonization of Italy was not 
the well known city of Aeolia but an obscure town on the 



(1) Preller-Jordan, II, 314; Pais, Stor. crit. I, 253 . Cp. Busolt, I, 395; 
Worner, Die Sage ton den Wanderungen des Aeneas 22; Cauer, Dj f abulia 
Greeds ad Romam conditam pertenentibus 10-11. 

(2) O. Miiller, Explicantur causae fabulae de Aeneae in Italiam adventu 
in Class. Jour. XXVI (1822) 308 f . ; Hild, La Ugende d'Enee avant Virgile 34; 

Aineias P.-W. I, 1019; Worner, Aineias Roscher I, 188. 

(3) Pais, Stor. crit. I, 233 f., 250; Pfister, Die Reliquienkult im Altertum 
1, 157-8 (Religionsgeschichtliche Versuche und Vorarbeiten V); Gruppe, 690 ; 
Worner, Die Sage von den Wanderungen des Aeneas 19, 21 = Abhandl. zu den 
Programm des kgl. Gymnasiums in Leipsig 1881-2; Cauer, Die rbm. Aeneassage 

von Naevius bis Vergilius in Jahrb. fiir class. Phil. Supplementband XV (1887) 
101; Nettleship, The Story of Aeneas' Wanderings in Jour. Phil IX (1880) 42, 
45. The myth related by Dionysius that Romus, a son of Aeneas, founded both 

Capua and Rome is a late invention depending upon the alliance between the 
two cities after 338 (or 334) B. C. Dion. Hal. I, 73 ; Niese, Die Sagen von der 
Grundung Roms in Hist. Zeits. XXIII (1888) 490; Geifcken, Timaios* Geogra- 
phie des Westens 44. 

(4) Mttller, loc. cit.; Schwegler, Rom. Gesch. I, 316; Worner, Die Sage 
von den Wanderungen des Aeneas 22. 

(5) Schwegler, Rom. Gesch. I, 802; Gruppe. 342; Bouche-Leclercq , Hist. 
de la divin. dans Vant. II, 156, 184. 

- 13 - 



island of Euboea (1). Samos is also cited as the source of the 
Sibyl (2). In fact it is impossible to determine exactly how 
her cult reached Cumae, and it may have come with more 
than one band of colonists. In any case it goes back ultimately 
to Marpessus (3). 

The same uncertainty is attached to the cult and myth of 
the Sirens, which became associated with the vicinity of Ne&~ 
polis and Surrentum. According to Gruppe and Weicker they 
were brought by the settlers from Chalcis and formed a part 
of their stock of Euboean and Boeotian traditions (4). P. Fried- 
lander, calling attention to the priority of the myth of the 
Sirens in Samian tradition before it appeared in the Odyssey, 
believes that their presence in Campania was due to Samian 
colonists, who are credited in history with the foundation of 
a settlement at Puteoli (5). No evidence has been preserved 
for the arrival of Samians at Neapolis, but Friedlander re- 
gards the statement of a scholiast as pointing in that direc- 
tion (6). A better indication for believing that the cult of the 
Sirens was due to a non-Chalcidian element is the attitude 
shown toward them by the people of Cumae; not only did 
the latter not carry on the worship of these creatures, but they 
are actually reported to have been hostile to Parthenope, the 
special patroness of the Neapolitans. 

The most important element after that of the Chalcidians 
was the one derived from Rhodes, which established a colony 
Parthenope on or near the site of the later Neapolis. The Rho- 
dians were familiar with the gods generally recognized by 
the Greeks and in addition probably introduced into Campania 
the worship of Heracles. The origin of this cult is disputed. 
The opinion once held that he was especially a Dorian god 



(1) Beloch, 147; Busolt, 391 f. 

(2) Schwegler, Horn. Gesch. I, 802. 

(3) Buchholz, Sibylla, Roscher IV, 795, 799 ; Schultess, Die Sibyllinischen 
Bischer in Rom 8 f. 

(4) Gruppe, 344 and Jahresb. iiber die Fortschr. der class. Altertum.su>. 
CXXXVII 356; Weicker, Seirenen, Roscher IV, 607 and Der Seelenvogel 60. 

(5) P. Friedlander, HerakJes 85 f. 

(6) Scholiast on Dionys. Perig. 358 (Muller, Geog. Gr. miri. II, 445): 
Friedlander, HerakJes 90. 

- 14 - 



coming from the Peloponnesus to Cumae, as stated for exam- 
ple by Reitzenstein, is not tenable (1). Many scholars have 
considered him as a primitive Boeotian deity or at least one 
who was prominent there at an early date. In this event his 
cult would have spread first to Euboea and from there would 
have reached Italy at Cumae (2). But Friedlander has shown 
that the primitive Heracles cult was at Rhodes, and was in- 
troduced into Boeotia from the Rhodian epics as late as 700 
B. C. In Campania therefore it must have been due to the 
Rhodians either by direct colonization or indirectly from their 
settlement at Croton (3). The recognition of the god soon 
spread along the coast, as he appears associated with the 
myths of the Giants and the cattle of Geryon which were lo- 
calized in the neighborhood of Cumae. He was further wor- 
shipped at the numerous warm springs around Puteoli as at 
Himera (4). 

Other elements joined the earliest colonists from time 
to time bringing with them certain religious ideas from their 
old homes. Thus refugees from Psophis in Arcadia perhaps 
reached Cumae bringing their traditions about the Eryman- 
thean boar with the result that in time Apollo's temple was 
supposed to preserve its very remains in the form of a sacred 
relic, and the boar's tusks were portrayed on Cumaean 
coins (5). On the basis of a notice in Pausanias it has also 
been thought that a band from Tritaea in Achaia settled here 
and introduced the god Ares with the legend of Romulus (6). 



(1) Reitzenstein, Ined. poet. Gr. frag. 11. 

(2) Von Wilamowitz, Der HerakJes Sage in Eurip. *Hera\l. I, 1, 12; 
Meyer, II 255, 485-6; Beloch I, 163 and Die dorische Wanderung in Rh. Mus. 

XLV (1890) 579; Correra, Riv. ital. di numis. XVI (1903) 191; Winter, The 
Myth of Hercules at Rome 266. 

(3) Friedlander, HerakJes 54 f. ; Gruppe, 374; Pohlmann, Grundriss der 
gr, Gesch. 49. 

(4) Serv. f Aen. VII, 662; Friedlander, HerakJes 22, 142; Gruppe 454 
and Berl Phil Wochens. XXXI (1911) 1002; R. Peter, Hercules, Roscher I, 
3009; Preiler-Jordan, II, 280. 

(5) Gruppe, 371 ; Garrucci. Le monete delVU. ant. PI. 83, No. 29; A. 
Sambon, Lea monn. ant. de I' It. 151. No. 246: Pais. Stor. crit. I. 228. 

(6) Reitzenstein, Ined poet Gr. frag. 11, 24; Gruppe, 141; Paus, VII, 
22, 9. 

- 15 - 



But the worship of Ares - if it really was carried on at Cumae - 
might well have come from Euboea. Reitzenstein saw another 
evidence for the presence of an Achaean element in the use of 
the word 'A/aiari as opposed to the expression sv izaxpioioi vd[iotc 
found in an oracle of Phlegon of Tralles. He maintained that 
the rites of the new comers were thus distinguished from those 
of the original Euboean settlers, but the reference is not 
surely to Cumae (I). Pais, while admitting the presence of 
these Achaean and Arcadian elements in the religion of Cu- 
mae, believes that they came from Syracuse after the battle 
of Cumae in 474 B. C. (2). 

The cult of Athena was introduced generally in lower 
Italy as a result of Achaean and Aetolian influence, but in 
Campania seems to have been brought directly from Athens 
by a number of colonists from that city who took up their 
abode at Neapolis in the fifth century (3). Before this time 
there were few relations between Athens and Campania, and 
wares from the former were imported into the latter through 
the mediation of the merchants of Syracuse (4). Now Athe- 
nian influence made itself felt more strongly, and a new type 
of money was issued which bears the likeness of the great 
deity of that city. Pottery found at Cumae shows so great a 
resemblance to the Athenian product, that it has been sup- 
posed to be the work of artisans from Athens who were re- 
siding in Campania (5). The new movement must have had 
much importance in a religious way, but little evidence for it 
has been preserved. The influence of Athens was not always 
exercised directly but also through the agency of Thurii (6). 



(1) Reitzenstein, op. cit. 10; Diels, Sibyllinische Blatter 54 f . ; Schultess, 
Die Sibyllinische Biicher in Rom 24. For the oracle see Diels op. cit. 1 1 1 f . 

(2) Pais, Storia della Sicilia e della Magna Graecia I, 163. 

(3) Dummler, Athena P. W. II, 1984; Ruckert, Dienst der Athena 84 f. 
(not accessible to me); Beloch, 30; Pais, Ricerche stor. e geogr. 441. 

(4) Helbig, Sopra le relazioni commerciali degli Ateniesi coll' Italia in 
Rend, dei Lincei V (1889) 79. 

(5) Vanacore, / vasi con heroon dell' Italia meridionale in Atti Nap. XXIV 
(1906) 189. 

(6) A. Sambon, La cronologia delle monete di Neapolis in Riv. itaL di 
num. XV (1902) 119 f. 

-.16 - 



In fact the various cities of Magna Graecia and Sicily 
exercised an important influence on the development of reli- 
gion in Campania. Between the ports of the latter and those 
of Sicily an extensive commerce was carried on through the 
sixth and the first part of the fifth centuries B. C. (1). In the 
latter part of the fifth century Cumae was an ally of Syracuse, 
and King Hiero obtained possession of the island of Pithe- 
cussae (Ischia). Syracusan influence was at its height, and at 
this time may have originated the legends of the Cretans and 
the Thespiads, who are supposed to have come respectively 
from Sardinia and Sicily (2). Through the same instrumen- 
tality was made known the cult of the Sicilian Athena, which 
flourished along side of that derived from Athens (3). From 
the western end of the island came the worship of the ship- 
protecting Aphrodite of Mt. Eryx, who was identified with 
the pre-existing Oscan deity Herentas (4). 

Among the cities of lower Italy, which promoted the 
spread of various forms of religion to the north may be men- 
tioned Tarentum, which was zealous in the worship of Hera- 
cles, and Locri which magnified the Dioscuri, although these 
cults had already been introduced along the coast of Campania 
by early settlers (5). Gruppe has plausibly explained the 
presence of the Geryon myth here as due to the Rhodians at 
Croton. Although admitting the colonization of Parthenope 
by men of the same nationality he believes that this legend 
of Heracles' exploits was carried to that city first from Croton, 
and later formed a part of the heritage of the inhabitants of 
Cumae, which they received at the capture of Parthenope (6). 
An acquaintance with Achelous as father of the Sirens was 
naturally madfc when the legends of those goddesses came to 
Campania, but his presence upon coins more likely resulted 



(1) Helbig, Rend, dei Lincei V (1899). 

(2) Pais, Storia della Sic. I, 163 . 

(3) See p. 197. 

(4) Meyer, II, 531. 

(5) Gruppe, 372-373; Wissowa, 269. 

(6) Gruppe, Berl Phil Wochens. XXXI (1911) 1002. Cp. Vollgraff. Rhodos 
oder Argos? in Neue Jahrbucher XXV (1910) 317. 

- 17 - 



from the influence of Metapontum (1). So the appearance of 
the Argive Juno upon the money of the early Campanian city 
of Hyria was due according to Pais to the influence of Posi- 
donia (2). The cult of Leucothea has been derived from E- 
lea (Velia) (3). 

THE SPREAD OF GREEK CULTS INTO THE 
INTERIOR. 

The gods introduced by the Greek settlers along the coast 
did not remain confined to that area but became known also 
m the interior. In this movement the influence of Cumae was 
the most important on account of its commercial relations 
and colonies (4). Its settlements at Neapolis and Puteoli flour- 
ished and the former became in later years the greatest center 
of Hellenic civilization in Italy. Other places farther south 
such as Pornpeii and Surrentumi appear to have received 
Greek settlers and were noticeably affected by Greek influence, 
since both at an early date possessed Greek temples. Cumae 
furthermore strengthened Hellenic influence throughout Cam- 
pania by its alliance with the powerful city of Syracuse, by 
whose assistance it was enabled to withstand and defeat the 
Etruscans (5). The religion of the Greeks was one of the 
factors which availed most to save them from being submerged 
by the surrounding tribes, and in order to strengthen their 
position they may designedly have endeavored to extend the 
circle wherein the gods of Greece were recognized (6). This 

(1) Gruppe, 343. 

(2) Pais, Gli elementi italioti, sannitici e campani neila pin aniica civilth 
romana in Atti Nap. XXI (1900-01) part. I, 132. Ricerche star, e geog. 462; Head, 

Hist. num. 32. 

(3) Correra, Studi e mater, di arch, e di numis. I (1899) 74; Gruppe, 376 

(4) Meyer, II, 531. 

(5) Freeman, Hist, of Sic. II, 252. 

(6) Nissen, ltalische Landes\unde II, 723; Reitzenstein Ined. poet, Gr. 
frag., 10. For the relations that existed in general between the Greek colonists 
and the natives with whom they came in contact see Gwynn, The Character of 
Gr. Colonization in Jour. Hell. Stud. XXXVIII (1918) 109 f. 

- 18 - 



result was achieved by means of festivals. Thus at Hamae 
near Cumae a solemn festival was celebrated from early times 
in the interest of the Campanians, an occasion on which the 
inhabitants of the interior were brought into touch with Hel- 
lenic beliefs. 

As the Oscan cities became familiar with the Greek dei- 
ties, they either adopted them as new gods or merged them 
with others of similar nature already existent. Thus Oscan 
inscriptions from Pompeii and Herculaneum, which exhibit 
the forms Apellu, Hercolus, Herentas, and Fluusa, attest the 
worship of Apollo, Hercules, Venus, and Flora (1). Artemis 
is an example of the divinities who were merged with old 
Italic gods; Heracles and the Dioscuri on the contrary were 
probably never assimilated to preexisting Oscan divinities, but 
none the less soon had temples with thriving cults in the in- 
terior. Castor and Pollux became the patrons of the Campanian 
aristocracy, and Heracles or Hercules was revered everywhere 
and roads were commonly called by his name (2). The myth 
of Cacus, associated in legend with the latter deity perhaps 
had its counterpart in this region; Aeneas was made known 
in the interior (3). 

Demeter, Cora and Dionysus, identified with native dei- 
ties, attained a position of preeminence. Though the date of 
their introduction into the interior is uncertain, they were cerr 
tainly well known there in the sixth century. They were con- 
nected with agriculture and naturally became widely popular 
over the rich Campanian plain. As a result of its bounteous 
crops of grain and the abundant yield of the vine, both De- 
meter and Dionysus seemed to vie with each other in show- 
ering their blessings upon it, and so the legend arose that 
it had been the object of contention between the two for its 
possession (4). Another myth represents the Ager Falernus 

(1) Conway, Italian Religion in Hastings, Encyclopaedia VII, 458. 

(2) Liv. VIII, 11, 16; Preller-Jordan, II, 301; Pseudo-Aristotle, De mirab. 
ausc. 97. The latter writer speaks particularly of southern Italy, but makes his 
remarks of general application for the peninsula. Pais, Stor. Rom. I, 2, 442-3: 
Cesano, Hercules, Ruggiero III, 710; Boehm, He.cules P.-W. VIII, 608. 

(3) Pais, Stor. crit. I, 238-239. 

(4) Plin. nat. Ill, 60; PreUer-Jordan, II, 47. 

- 19 - 



just north of the Volturnus as the land upon which Liber first 
conferred the gift of wine (1). 

The worship of Dionysus was carried on especially in 
the mysteries, about which little is known save their orgiastic 
nature and their tendency to be marked by excesses (2). For 
the cities of Campania itself no information has reached us 
about their character. In the luxurious cities of Magna Graecia 
their environment was especially favorable for licentiousness. 
In the former district too much emotion in religion was perhaps 
repugnant to the disposition of the better class of Qreeks, at 
least in the earlier period (3). In these ceremonies Ceres seems 
to have had little part according to the evidence of vase paint- 
ings; yet she probably had a larger share in the mysteries of 
this coast, whence the Romans derived their worship of Ceres, 
Liber and Libera, than on the other side of the peninsula! 
where Dionysus was supreme (4). Occasionally Ceres is rep- 
resented along with Dionysus, as on a two handled hydria 
from the vicinity of the ancient Capua where Cora appears 
with them in a scene portraying the bliss of Elysium (5). The 
companion of Dionysus is more often a goddess who is de- 
picted in the form of Ariadne. To explain this figure F. Le- 
normant supposed a union of the attributes of both Demeter 
and Cora in the person of a single goddess, who in actual 
cult and ritual was regarded as the deity to whom reference 
has already been made as Libera, but who in popular belief 
was fused with Ariadne (6). This combination would be fos- 
tered by the circumstance that the latter was considered a 
goddess of wine, and the , conception of Ariadne as a com- 
panion of Bacchus was so powerful that the Roman Libera 
was taken for Ariadne by Ovid (7). Dionysus himself was 

(1) Sil. VII, 162 f. 

(2) Comparetti, Iscrizione arcaica cumana in Ausonia I (1906) 17 f. 

(3) Spinelli, La decadenza religiosa e la repressione dei Baccanali a 
Roma, 34. 

(4) Spinelli, op. cit. 29. 

(5) Frohner, La collection Tyszkiewiez PL c. 10. 

(6) F. Lenormant, Bacchus D.-S. I, 637 and La Grande-Grece I, 407; 
Preller-Robert, 683; Thramer, Dionysus in der Kunst Roscher I, 1148. 

(7) Ov. fast. HI, 512, Metam. VIII, 170; Prop. II, 3, 18; III, 17, 8: Hor. 
Carm. II, 19, 16; Stoll. Ariadne, Roscher I, 544; Wagner, Ariadne P.-W II, 
808. 

- 20 - 



regarded as the Liberator ( 5 EXso6spe6c) and viewed as a god of 
the dead. A parallelism was seen between the action of wine 
and death both of which release the soul from the restraints 
of the flesh; the feeling further prevailed that the god could 
save his devotees from the perils and miseries of the lower 
world (I). His popularity is proved by the frequency with 
which he appears in vase paintings from the factories of Cam- 
pania and the adjoining districts. He is a common subject not 
only upon the vases coming from Posidonia but also upon 
those from Saticula (S. Agatha de' Goti), where a notable 
factory was located in the fifth and fourth centuries (2). Al- 
though the vases are based on Attic models, they would have 
been lacking in point, if they did not allude to popular legends 
and religious rites. In this case the comprehensive character 
of the cult, the many phases of life with which the god was 
associated, and his significance in the mysteries as a chthonic 
deity are all circumstances that made the subject appropriate. 
Likewise the myths connected with Dionysus, especially those 
in which Ariadne appears, were adopted more often than arty 
other theme for Campanian wall-paintings (3). 

The mystical element pervading the cult of Dionysus was 
paralleled in the Orphic mysteries, which had attained a full 
development in lower Italy in the sixth century. These doc- 
trines unquestionably influenced Campania to a considerable 
extent, though no certain evidence for their presence in any 
particular city remains (4). We may be sure that the wan- 
dering Orphic teachers censured by Plato did not neglect this 



(1) Gruppe, 1430 f. 

(2) Walters, Hist. Anc. Pot. II, 484; Patroni, La ceramica ant. nett'lt. 
merid. in Atti Nap. XIX (1897-8) 96; Patroni's conclusions have been challenged 
in general by Macchioro, Intorno al contenuto oltremondano della ceramografia 
italiota in Neapolis I (1913) 30 f. 

(3) Stoll, Roscher I, 545; Ove! beck-Mau, Pompeji 588-589; Mau, Pom- 
peji in Leben und Kunst 495 ; Helbig, Wan dgemalde der vom Vesuv verschut- 
teten Stadte Campaniens 93, No. 368 L 

(4) Gruppe, Orpheus Roscher III, 1101; Vanacore, / vast con heroon in 
Atti Nap. XXIV (1906) 180; J. Harrison, Prolegomena to the Study of Greek 
Religion 598; Comparetti ; Petelia Gold Tablet in Jour. Hell. Stud. Ill, lilt. 

and Ausonia I (1906) 18-20; Kern, Orphischer Toten\ult in Aus der Anomia 
arch. Beitrage C. Robert dargebracht 86 i. Cp. p. 70. 

- 21 - 



rich and prosperous territory, but went about here as else- 
where expounding to interested throngs their hopes for a fu- 
ture life (I). Related to the Orphic doctrines and liable to be 
confused with them were the teachings of Pythagoras ema- 
nating from Croton, the amount of whose influence in Cam- 
pania we are not in a position to estimate. The one fact that 
is gleaned from the various mysteries - Bacchic, Orphic, and 
Pythagorean - is that the life beyond the grave occupied a 
large place in the thought of southern Italy; the end was the 
same whether there prevailed a belief in the transmigration 
of souls or in the existence of a blessed Elysium (2). The evi- 
dence appears in vase paintings (3). 

THE INFLUENCE OF CAMPANIA UPON THE 
RELIGION OF ROME. 

As the commercial arid political relations of Campania 
with the Greeks of Sicily and lower Italy were responsible for 
the introduction within its borders of new forms of religion, 
so in the same way Campania helped to modify the religious 
conceptions of the peoples situated farther north. In fact from 
an early date the coast cities of Campania carried on a flour- 
ishing trade with the Etruscans and the Latins with the result 
that Greek gods were made known within their borders (4). 
Among the deities first introduced was Heracles, whose cult 
was disseminated largely through the instrumentality of Cu- 
mae (5). Etruscan works of art, representing the god or de- 
picting his myths, show his presence in that country as early 
as the sixth century B. C, and it has been suspected that his 
popularity there had an important effect in making him known 

(1) Plat. Rep. II, 364B. Cp. Lobeck, Aglaophamus 643 f . ; Spinelli, La 
decadenza relig. e la repres. dei Baccanali a Roma 29. 

(2) Dieterich, Eine Mithrasliturgie 198. 

(3) Vanacore, Atti Nap. XXIV (1906) 180. 

(4) For the commercial importance of Cumae see Gabrici, Cuma in Mon 
ant XXII (1913) 577 f. 

(5) Cesano, Hercules, Ruggiero III, 684 with comprehensive references 
to earlier l'terature; Pais, Stor. crit. I, part. I, 361. 

- 22 - 



to the Romans (I). The cult at Rome seems to have been due 
mainly to Campanian influence, although Pais in his later 
work admits the possibility of influences from Sicily and Mag- 
na Graecia (2). The god indeed may have come directly 
from Cumae to Rome, since important relations existed be- 
tween the two cities in early times, and certain circumstances 
have been found to support this contention (3). But it is more 
probable, as Wissowa has indicated, that he was worshipped 
first at Tibur and that from this locality he was taken to Rome ; 
as a result he was not considered a foreign deity by the Ro- 
mans in spite of his Greek ritual (4). 

Yet Campanian influences doubtless operated directly, at 
least at a later epoch. In the time of Appius Claudius Caecus, 
as a result of the construction of the Via Appia and the inti- 
mate relations of Rome with the Campanians and Samnites, 
Hercules came more prominently before the Romans, and his 
cult was made a public one (5). This event marks a new 
epoch in the religious relations between Campania and Rome, 
for earlier intercourse was mainly by sea, but in the later pe- 
riod Capua rather than Cumae affected the Romans (6). 
Pais has expressed the opinion that Campanian influence com- 
ing overland is indicated by the location of the principal 
seat of the Hercules cult at Rome, but this was not situated, 
as he states, where the great highway leading to Campania 
issued from the city (7). Rather its position near the Tiber 

(J) Diirrbach, Hercules D.-S. Ill, 124-25; Winter, The Myth of Here, at 
Rome 269. 

(2) Pais, Stor. crit. I, part. I, 229. 

(3) Cesano, Ruggiero III, 684; Reitzenstein, Ined. poem. Gr. frag. 24 ; 
Preller-Jordan II, 280. 

(4) Wissowa, 272; Carter, Relig. of Numa 32; Fowler, 230. 

(5) Liv. IX, 29, 9; Val. Max. I, 1, 17; Macr. Ill, 6, 12; Interpolator to 
Serv. Aen. VIII, 269; Fest, 237; Aur. Vict. De uiris illus. 34; Origo gerttia 
Romanae 8; Pais, Stor. Rom. I, part 2, 439, 560 and Atti Nap. XXI (1900-1) 
I, 134. 

(6) See, however, p. 28. 

(7) The statements of Pais about the cult of Hercules are confused and 
contradictory. He says in one place (Atti Nap. XXI (1900-1) 134) that the memor- 
ials of the god fittingly stood near the Porta Trigemina, where the way to Capua 
began, and in another place (Stor. crit. I, part 1, 229) declares that the princi- 
pal seat of his cult was not by acc-'dent near the Porta Capena, where the 

Campanian way began. As a matter of fact the god was not associated with the 

last named gate, nor did the one named first belong to a road leading to 

Campania. 

- 23 - 



and the landing place signified that it had arrived in the first 
instance by water (1). It was established before the overland 
traffic between Rome and the South began, as is recognized 
by Pais in another place (2). 

The story of Cacus, who was associated with the exploits 
of Hercules at Rome, was probably based upon a Campanian 
myth dealing with the punishment of a cattle theft, inflicted 
by the great hero. An evidence for this assumption is the 
statement of the annalist Gellius that Cacus came to Rome 
from Campania (3). 

Still more evident is the Campanian origin for the worship 
of Apollo at Rome; in this case the god did not arrive in the 
guise of an Italian divinity but was introduced directly from 
Cumae as a god of healing probably as a result of the in- 
fluence of the so-called Sybilline oracles, which tradition as- 
cribes to that city (4). These according to legend reached 
Rome at the end of the period of the Kings or at the beginning 
of the Republic (5). As a matter of fact the oracles may 
not have come from Cumae at all, but rather were pious 
frauds to which a Cumaean origin was assigned. In specific 
cases there had doubtless been a consultation of the Sibyl 

(1) Fowler, 230. 

(2) Pais, Stor. crit. I, part I, 230. His statement elsewhere Atti Nap. 
XXI (1900-1) 135 = Ricerche stor. e geogr. 428 that the cult of Hercules arrived 
at Rome after that of Ceres, when Greek civilisation was openly welcomed, must 
be regarded as erroneous. 

(3) Gell. hist. I, 7 = Peter, Hist. Rom. frag. 7* p. 93. The bronze urn 
found at S. Maria di Capua perhaps contains an expression of the Cacus myth 

but this interpretation is disputed. Peter, Hercules Roscher I, 2275; Wissowa 
Cacus P.-W. Ill, 1169; Prel ler- Jordan ; I, 18; Winter, The Myth of Here, at 
Rome 267 (with references to earlier literature). The view that the Cacus myth 
was an old Italian one is less probable. Peter 2278. For the myth in general see 
Gruppe, Bert. Phil Wochens, XXXI (191 1) 999 f. • Miinzer, Cacus der Kinderdieb. 

(4) Wernicke, Apollo P.-W. H, 78; Ruggiero, Apollo I, 518; Preller- . 
Jordan, I, 18, 146 f. ; Wissowa, 293; Fowler, 268; Carter, Relig. of Numa, 66; 
Roscher, Apollo I, 446; Pais, Stor. Rom. I, part 1, 349 and Stor. crit. I, part 2, 

528: Haight, An inspired message in the Augustan Poets in Am. Jour. Phil. 
XXXIX (1918) 341 f. 

(5) Hoffmann, Die tarquinischen Sibyfline-Biicher in Rh. Mus. L. (1895) 
108; Worner, Die Sage von den Wanderungen des Aeneas 22; Schultess, Die 
Sibyllinischen Biicher in Rom 10. 

- 24 - 



there, and to meet future needs a collection of remedies for 
averting evil omens was prepared. Such an origin would 
account for the presence of the oracles within the pomer- 
ium (I). Otherwise one must assume either that the oracles 
and the god were not closely associated, as is generally sup- 
posed by those who follow the common tradition, or else that 
neither oracles nor cult entered Rome before the founding of 
the Apollo temple in the fourth century B. C. (2). While such 
a late date is improbable, it is equally incorrect to suppose 
that the worship of Apollo was maintained at Rome before 
the presence of the Sibylline oracles (3); rather it arrived 
soon after they came into existence and was largely due to 
them. A circumstance indicating the belief of the Romans 
themselves that their god came from Cumae was the perform- 
ance of expiatory rites in the Apollo temple of that city on 
the occasion of prodigies, and there can be little doubt that 
their attitude here was correct. To include Cumae, therefore, 
as one of the localities to which the cult spread from Rome, 
as is done by Pascal, is an unfortunate reversal of the rela- 
tions actually existing between the two cities (4). 

As a result of Sibylline influence, the cult of Demeter, 
Cora and Dionysus is said to have reached Rome in the year 
493 B. C. This form of worship in which Ceres, representing 
Demeter, had the leading place was adopted as an official cult 
by the state, but although the divinities were designated by 
Latin names formerly borne by old Italian deities, they were 
considered as foreign gods and their rites were Greek (5). 
But the mysteries celebrated in their honor by the Greeks and 
all features of the worship tending toward orgiastic excesses 

(1) Diels, Sibyllinische Blatter 80; Fowler, 259; De Sanctis. Stor. II, 
526-7; Pais, Stor. crit. I, 249 . 

(2) Hoffmann, Rh. Mus. L (1895) 96; Pais, Stor. crit. I, 528. II, 537. 

(3) De Sanctis, loc. cit. 

(4) Pascal, // piu antico tempio d' Apollo a Roma in Bull arch. com. 
1893, 48. The author may not have intended to make this statement but such 
seems to be the purport of his words. 

(5) Dion. Hal. VI, )7; VI, 94, 3. Cp. Liv. Ill, 55,7; Tac. ,4nn. II, 49; 
Spinelli, La decadenza religiosa e la repressione dei Baccanali a Roma, 25 ; 
Toutain, Liber Pater in Etudes de mythologie et d'histoire 222. Hoffmann, Rh, 
Mus. L (1895) 100 denies that the divinities treated here were Greek. 

- 25 - 



were doubtless debarred at this time (1). Their origin must 
be sought in connection with the importation of grain from 
Sicily and Campania to relieve a condition of famine. Since 
both places had strong Ceres cults, it is probable that both 
were effective in the propagation of the worship of the god- 
dess at Rome, but which one took the leading part in this 
movement is a question in dispute. Pais, following Preller, 
has attempted to prove that the worship of Ceres along with 
the legend of Menenius Agrippa and the traditions of the 
revolt of the plebs is due to Sicilian influences centering at 
Syracuse (2). It is indeed certain that the Sicilian Enna was 
held to be the oldest seat of Demeter worship, and for that 
reason the Romans in 133 B. C. sent a delegation thither to 
perform state sacrifices (3). We may account for this fact by 
supposing that during the lapse of time the Romans had for- 
gotten the chief source from which their cult was derived. In 
any event the mention of Enna does not exclude a Campanian 
source for the Roman goddess; for if the cult came from the 
island, it must have come from Syracuse or some seaport and 
not from, the interior (4). On the other hand the proximity 
of Campania to Rome, the connection of the Sibylline oracles 
with Cumae, the known derivation of other cults from this 
region, all tend to show a probability that the district around 
Cumae was the source. This view is confirmed by the fact 
that priestesses at Rome were selected from the neighboring 
Velia and Neapolis, after Cumae had declined in population 
and power (5). The statement of Birt that the Ceres cult in 
Campania was due to the extension of Roman influence is 
altogether unfounded, since it conceives the relations be- 

(1) Spinelli, loc. cit. 

(2) Preller-Joxdan, II, 40 ; Fowler, 256 ; Pestalozza e Chiesa, Ceres, Rug- 
giero, II, 206; Pais, Ancient Italy 245 f., Ricerche stor. e geog. 320, and Star, 
crit. II, 146. 

(3) Cic. Vert. LV, 108; Val. I, 1, I. 

(4) The Romans were not agreed as to the origin of their cult, as 
appears from the attempt of Dlonysius tq trace it to Arcadia. Dion. Hal., I, 33. 

Cp. Farnell, Cults of the Greek States I//, 101. 

(5) Farnell, III, 101; Wissowa, Ceres P.-W. Ill, 1974 and Rel. und 
Kult. 297; F. Lenormant, Ceres D.-S. I, 1078; Carter, Religion of Numa 72 
f . ; Aust, Religion der Rb'mer 150; De Sanctis, Stor, Rom. 11,527; Dubois Pouz- 
zoles antique 134 and Milanges XXII (1902) 27. 

-26 - 



tween Rome and Campania as the reverse of the actual ones (1). 
The date of the introduction of the triad is unknown, unless 
the legendary one be accepted (2). 

Similar was the origin of the Roman cult of Mercury, 
which came to Rome according to tradition two years earlier 
than that of Ceres. Although no details are at hand, the Rom- 
ans probably felt the need of another god to serve as patron 
of their developing commerce; Hermes Empolaios therefore 
was imported from the Greek cities in the South to fill this 
need. It is probable but not certain that the introduction was 
due to Sibylline influence and that the god was brought from 
the vicinity of Cumae (3). 

From the same coast the worship of Castor and Pollux 
as sea divinities spread northward toward Latium; according 
to Albert it was hospitably received at all the port towns and 
at Caere in particular, but it has left clear traces of its pres- 
ence only at, Ostia (4). These gods as patrons of the knights 
had already found favor at Rome, and were associated in 
legend with the battle of Lake Regillus. This aspect of the 
cult originated in southern Italy especially at Locri and Ta- 
rentum; thence it passed through Tusculum to Rome. Prob- 
ably it spread overland toward the north with Capua, Cora 
and other points as intermediate stages before it arrived at 
Tusculum (5). More evident is the part played by Campania 
in introducing these gods at Ostia as marine deities. Miss 
Taylor limits the evidence for their presence in Italian ports 

(1) Birt, Ceres, Roscher 863. His view here depends on the theory of 
the introduction of the cult at Rome on, the analogy of the triad of Demeter, 
Dionysus aud Cora at Lampsacus, Cp. Roscher 862; Marquardt-Wissowa Rom. 
Staatsvertoaltung III, 362; Pais, Ancient Italy 250 and Ricerche stor. e geog. 326. 

(2) Pais, Ancient Italy 256 and Ricerche stor. e geog. 329. 

(3) Carter, Rel. of Numa 77; Preller-Jordan, I, 230; Scherer, Hermes in 
der Kunst, Roscher, I, 2425. Cp. Wissowa, 51, 304; Pais, Stor. Crit. II, 536; Foul- 
er, 260. 

(4) Albert, Le culte de Castor et Pollux en Italie 58; Taylor, The cults 
of Ostia 24 f. 

(5) Preller-Jordan, II, 300 f . ; Wissowa, 268; Carter, Rel. of Numa 
37 f . ; Furtwangler, Dioskuren, Roscher I, 1168; Bethe, DiosJ^uren P.-W. V. 
1104; Albert, op. cit. 8 f. and Dioscuri D.-S. II, 260; Helbig, Die Castores ah 
Schutzgotter des rom. Equitatus in Hermes XL (1905) 104 f. 

27 - 



to statues at Puteoli and Ancona and a temple at Ostia (1). 
But they had a temple certainly at Neapolis and almost cer- 
tainly at Cumae; they were worshipped in fact at Cumae and 
its two colonies in Campania and were doubtless introduced 
from there to Ostia. 

Another divinity at Rome for whom a Campanian origin 
has been suggested is Victoria. Graillot thinks that her in- 
troduction was caused by Greek influence from this quarter 
at the opening of the third century B. C. (2). 

In the case of other deities for whom a Campanian origin 
has been found the probabilities are strongly against such an 
assumption. Thus Poseidon, who was thought by Preller to 
have come to Rome from Cumae, came rather from Taren- 
tum (3); and Vesta, whose origin Kretschmer derived from 
the cult of Hestia, supposedly flourishing among the Greek 
colonies in Italy, was a goddess of Latin origin (4). In fact 
the Samnite conquest in the fifth century caused a diminu- 
tion in the activity of the Greek cities of the Campanian 
coast (5). The influence of this district however, soon made 
itself felt in another way. As the territory of Rome increased 
by conquest toward the south and Capua came under Roman 
protection in the fourth century B. C. a new stream of in- 
fluences propagating the civilization of Campania made its 
way northward. Capua now took the lead in affecting the civ- 
ilization of Rome, a position formerly held by Cumae (6). 
This influence is seen especially in the early Roman money 
minted in bronze about 340 B. C. Here the six gods chosen 
to serve as effigies were either Greek gods whose cult had 
been introduced from the South or were Greek divinities who 
were now identified with Roman ones (7). 



(1) Taylor, The Cults of Ostia 25-26. 

(2) Graillot, Victoria D.-S. V, 837. 

(3) Preller-Jbrdan, I, 18. Cp. Wissowa, 226; Carter, Rel of Numa, 79. 

(4) Kretschmer, Einleitung in die Geschichte der griech. Sprache 162; 
De Sanctis, Stor. Rom. II, 524. Cp. Wissowa, 157; HiU, Vesta D.-S. V. 746; 

Gruppe, I, 84; Jordan, Der Tempel der Vesta und das Haus der Vestallinen 75. 

(5) Pais, Storia crit. I, 253. 

(6) Willers, Gesch. d. rom. Kupferpragung 34 ; Nissen, Orientation 333. 

(7) Willers, op. cit. 28; cp. 33; Wissowa, 56. 

28- 



CAMPANIA DURING THE LATER REPUBLIC. 

The Second Punic War by the definite establishment of 
Roman supremacy marks an epoch in the history of Campanian 
and south Italian religion. Even before that event Roman 
influence through the establishment of alliances and protect- 
orates had been making itself strongly felt. Just as in the 
sixth and fifth centuries the forms of religion flourishing in 
the South had materially modified the established worships 
of Rome, so now on the other hand the favored cults of that 
city tended to make their way in Campania, fostered by the 
pro-Roman party which existed in the different communi- 
ties (1). At the close of the great struggle Roman religious 
ideas were definitely planted in all parts by the foundation 
of Roman colonies, and although in a few places like Nea- 
polis Greek civilization lingered, and at Capua the hatred of 
the original inhabitants and the pride of the Roman colonists 
there settled tended to maintain a certain independence of 
Rome, for the most part the Campanian towns became minia- 
ture copies of the capital city (2). Yet the survival of old 
native cults was encouraged and to such forms of religion, 
officially recognized by the Roman state, was given the special 
appellation of municipalia sacra (3). 

Still the influence of Campania and lower Italy in gen- 
eral had not ceased to affect the Roman state. Back in the 
dark days which followed Hannibal's invasion, Rome seems 
once more to have had recourse to the Campanian territory 
for the acquisition of a new cult. This was the worship of Bona 
Mens, attested for several localities by sporadic inscriptions 
and particularly prominent near the southern boundary of Cam- 
pania at Posidonia (Paestum) (4). Graillot thinks that Rome's 
action here was due to a desire to please and conciliate her 
southern allies, whose loyalty could no longer be considered 

(1) The sympathizers with Rome at the time of the Hannibalic War 
seem to have been the commons rather than the aristocracy. Reid, Problems of 
the Second Punic War in Jour. Rom. Stud. V. (1915) 112. 

(2) See p. 330, 364. 

(3) Festus, 157; Wissowa, 44. 

(4) Wissowa, 314; Preller-Jordan, II, 265; R. Peter, Mens, Roscher 
II, 2799. 

- 29- 



as assured (!). Preller believed that the cult of Volturnus 
at Rome was a form of worship honoring the Campanian 
river of that name, and that it had been carried to Rome 
after the subjugation of Capua at the close of the Hannibalic 
War (2). But this opinion is untenable, as the cult of Rome 
was under the charge of a flamen, and therefore very old. 
The Jatter was rather a cult of the Tiber itself designated un- 
der a generic name (3). 

At the close of the war Campanian influence began to 
operate in the case of the orgiastic and mystical cults, which 
in contrast to those introduced in the past did not enter Rome 
to become immediately a part of the state religion, but were 
introduced primarily without the sanction of the governing 
powers. To this class belong especially the Bacchic mysteries, 
which caused so much alarm to the Roman state in the first 
part of the second century B. C. From Campania came the 
priestess Annia Paculla, who by the innovation of receiving 
men into the Bacchic associations at Rome, and holding fre- 
quent night meetings was largely responsible for the ensuing 
scandals, which disturbed Roman society from its founda- 
tions (4). From this state of affairs we may infer that in 
Campania too the worship of Bacchus had degenerated and 
was marked by unseemly conduct on the part of his devotees. 
As a result of the agitation in Rome, measures were taken 
in the year 186 B. C. to stamp out the mysteries throughout 
Italy. But they were hard to eradicate in the South; two no- 
tices preserved from Calabria and Apulia and dated respec- 
tively in 184 and 182 B. C. demonstrate that the repressive 
measures were still meeting oppositibn (5). Conditions in 



(1) Graillot, Le culte de Cybele 56. 

(2) Preller-Jordan, II, 142-43. Cp. Varro, VI, 21, VII 45; Fest. 279. 

(3) Mommsen, C. /. L. I, p. 327; Wissowa, 224-225; Fowler, The Roman 
Festivals 214; Preller-Jordan, II, 143; Waser, Flussgotter P.-W. VI, 2779-80. 

(4) Li*. XXXIX, 8-19; Val. Max. VI, 3, 7; Cic. leg. II, 37; F. Lenor- 
mant, La Grande-Grece I, 420 and Bacchanalia D.-S. I, 590 ; Preller- Jordan, II, 
363; Wissowa, Bacchanal P.-W. II, 2721; Fowler, 346; Spinelli, La de cadenza 
religiosa e la repres. dei Baccanali a Roma, 35 f. 

(5) C. /. L. /, 196 = X, 104; Liv. XXXIX, 41, 6; XL, 19, 9, Spinelli, La 
dec. rel. e la repres. de* baccanali, 121. 

-30 - 



Campania were doubtless similar. The abuses were done away 
with, and the cult as a whole greatly declined, but references 
to a much later era, which attest the presence of associations 
called thiasi for the worship of soiree form of Bacchus, show 
that the cult marked by mystic devotion to the wine god did 
not altogether cease. 

The attempts to uproot his worship were aided by the 
circumstance that the Oriental cults, which had already ob- 
tained a foothold in Campania and elsewhere, offered a sub- 
stitute in a different guise for the cult which had been pre- 
scribed. They found a ready admission here because Puteoli 
the greatest Italian sea-port was situated in this region. Its 
development began immediately after the Second Punic War, 
and through it for several generation^ passed the commerce 
of Rome with the Orient (1). Another means of communi- 
cation with the East was the extension of the Via Appia, 
which in the second century B. C. was carried from Campania 
as far as Tarentum and Brundisium. In addition to the in- 
fluence of traders and travelers the new religions were pro- 
moted by the presence of vast numbers of slaves and by 
returning emigrants!* The Italians in truth who went to the 
East were mostly from Campania and Sicily. The same 
causes which in our own time have impelled the inhabitants 
of these parts to seek their fortunes in the New World oper- 
ated in the third century B. C. and later, with the result that 
numerous Campanians took up their abode at Delos and 
elsewhere for the sake of gain (2). 

The new religion in all cases took the form of a personal 
appeal to the individual; it offered with greater or less em- 
phasis the hope of a blessed existence beyond the grave, but 
made no pretense to promote the material welfare of the 
community as a whole. Here belongs the worship of Isis and 
Serapis introduced through the port of Puteoli as early as the 
beginning of thfe second century B. C. ; at the end of that 

(1) Lafaye, Histoire du culte des divinites d'Alexandrie 41, 43; Grail- 
lot, he culte de Cybele, 430-1. 

(2) Dubois, Pouzzoles antique 65; Homolle. Les Romains a Dilos in 
Bull corr. hell VIII (1884) 81 ; Hatzfeld, Les Italiens risidant a Dtlos in Bull 
corr. hell. XXXVI (1912) 130. 

-31 - 



century it had spread to Pompeii and other points, where it 
was not only tolerated but also publicly recognized. It then 
continued on its way till it reached Rome (1). The worship 
of Magna Mater had probably been introduced into Cam- 
pania still earlier. During the Hannibalic War it miade little 
progress, but after the close of that struggle it took on new 
vigor (2). The goddess readily associated herself with the 
mineral springs and mountains of the country and perhaps 
also with its caves. From this time on the region offered a 
fertile field for all the mystery religions of the Orient, which 
in some instances were admitted as legal forms of public 
worship (3). 

Aside from the development of the Oriental cults, the 
Romanization of the existing forms of religion through the 
establishment of colonies formed the most characteristic fea- 
ture of this period. These were regularly accompanied by the 
institution of official priesthoods modelled upon those pre- 
vailing at Rome. This fact is attested by the law applicable 
to a colonization in Spain, a copy of which has been pre- 
served, and in the case of Campania by a reference to the 
religious officials at Capua (4). Among*these public priests 
appear most often in inscriptions the names of pontiffs and 
augurs, whose number in the cities of Campania is generally 
uncertain. They attended to the formal religious exercises of 
their respective communities, and in particular cases they 
doubtless had special duties to perform, as was true in other 
colonies, where by chance a record has been preserved. Their 
functions in general coincided with those of their prototypes 
in Rome; the auspices were entrustd to the augurs, and the 



(1) Preller-Jordan, II 378; Carter, Rel. of Numa 136; Wissowa, 351; 
La f aye, Hist, du culte des divin. d'Alexandrie 40 and L* introduction du culte 
de Serapis a Rome in Rev. de Vhist. des rel. XI (1885) 328; Lovatelli, // culto 
di hide in Roma in Nuova antologia ser. 3 XXVIII (1890) 37; Ciaceri, La festa 
di S. Agata e Vantico culto di hide in Arch. stor. per la Sicilia orient, II (1905) 
273. Cumont, Rev arch. ser. 5, V (1917) 87 f. 

(2) Lafaye, op. cit. 40, 41 ; Graillot, he culte de Cybele 34. 

(3) Graillot, he culte de Cybele, 430; Carter, Rel. of Numa 137. 

(4) Lex Coloniae Juliae Genitiuae, Ep. Eph. 111,91 f . ; Dessau, 6087; Cic. 
leg. agr. II, 96. 

- 32 - 



commentarii and fasti to the pontiffs (1). The latter also 
performed the public sacrifices on the appointed days for 
certain cults introduced under Roman influence, which were 
without a regular priest. The pontiffs, in short, along with 
the augurs were the exponents of the formal religion of the 
Roman state (2). Like the public priests of individual deities 
they sqem to have been selected in the same manner as offi- 
cials with purely secular duties. At first, as in other parts of 
the Roman world, they were chosen at general elections, but 
later were appointed by the decurions who formed the mu- 
nicipal council (3). 

Flamens, who were not yet so numerous as at a later time 
when the worship of the Emperors had developed, seem to 
have had a higher rank than either of the other two clas- 
ses (4). According to Herbst the municipal haruspices were 
beneath all the others in dignity and importance; yet while 
this was doubtless their nominal rank, instances are not lack- 
ing in Campania as in other parts of Italy, where the men 
who filled this position were of considerable local promi- 
nence (5). 

In other ways too the colonies strove to make themselves 
as much like Rome as possible. Particularly by the institution 
of the Capitoline triad and the construction of Capitolia they 
endeavored to show their vital connection with the mother 



(1) For the special assignments which might be given to such officials 
see the two inscriptions of Lambaesis C. /. L. Ill, 2660, 2661. Cp. Herbst, De 
sacerdotiis Romanorum municipalibus 20. 

(2) Marquardt, Rom. Staatsverw, I, 172; Marquaidt-Wissowa, Rom. 
Staatsverw. Ill, 214; Wissowa, 516; Spinazzola, Gli augures 108. 

(3) Campania furnishes instances of priests selected by the decuriono at 
Neapolis and Cumae and _x>f augurs at Puteoli. No example® can be cited 
for the earlier method, which occurs in the lex Coloniae Juliae Genitiuae 
belonging to the first century B. C. But this decree probably embodies forms 
and usages generally prevalent and authorized also for Italy. Marquardt, op. cit, 
I, 68, 151 ; Reid, Municipalities of the Roman Empire 132; Correra, Arch, stor. 
Sic. XVIII (1893) 613; DePetra, AM Nap. XII (1884-6) 64 ; Spinazzola, G li au- 
gures and Degli auguri net municipii in Atti Nap. XVI (1891-3) part 2, 29 f. 

(4) Spinazzola, Gli augures 125. 

(5) Herbst, De sacerd. Rom. munic. 21 ; Thulin, Haruspices P.-W; VII, 
2439 with instances of prominent officials of this grade. 

-33 - 



city, and thus gave expression to the religion of patriotism (1). 
The worship of Vesta and the Lares Compitales and the ob- 
servances of household religion in the Roman fashion found 
their appropriate place. To the ancient festivals commemora- 
ting the foundation of the various shrines were added the 
principal celebrations of Rome. Statius has left an account 
of Diana's midsummer festival celebrated by the household 
of Pollius Felix at Surrentum, the wall paintings of Pompeii 
preserve allusions to the festival of Minerva (Quinquatrus) 
celebrated by the fullers and that of Vesta celebrated by the 
bakers, and finally a wall inscription at Pompeii records the 
Saturnalia (2). As time went on there was a tendency to 
replace the originally modest dwellings of the gods with more 
elaborate structures, as is amply demonstrated by the history 
of the Pompeian temples. 

THE PROGRESS OF RELIGION IN CAMPANIA 
UNDER THE EMPIRE. 

Campania was marked by a very early development of 
the Imperial cult. As early as 44 B. C. an order had been is- 
sued from Rome directing that at all public games held in 
Italy one day should be consecrated to Diuus Iulius, and two 
years later all Italian municipalities were required by a lex 
Rufrena to set up an image of that deity (3). But Campania 
went beyond all requirements in the worship of the Emperors. 
Here Augustus was worshipped openly during his lifetime in 
a way quite opposed to the conditions prevalent in Rome but 
like those that were found in the Eastern provinces. Nor were 



(1) Castan erroneously maintained that the building of Capitols was 
one of the latest forms of showing loyalty to the Roman government and that it 
was encouraged by Augustus. In reality Capitols began to be erected during 
the last century of the Republic. Castan, Les Capitoles provinciaux 68; cp. 64 
and Dion, Hal. IV, 61, 4. For the relation of Augustus to the Jupiter cult in 

general see Aust, luppitzr Roschex II, 747, f. 

(2) £tat„ s ilo. Ill, 1, 68; C. /. L, IV 2005a. See pp. 234, 255. 

(3) Dio Cass. XL1V 6, 2; C. /. L. VI 872, IX 5136; Heinen, Zur 
Begrundung des rom. Kaiser\vdtes in Klio XI (1911) 133, 136. 

34 - 



his instructions obeyed that his worship should be combined 
with that of the goddess Roma (I). 

Its precocious development was due primarily to the char- 
acter of the inhabitants, a large number of whom were of 
Greek or Oriental descent (2). The influence of the Emper- 
ors was also unusually great here, as the Imperial possessions 
on the Campanian coast were extensive even from the time 
of Augustus (3). Hirschfeld believed that the towns which 
honored the living Emperor were colonies of his creation or 
had been the recipients of his bounty like Puteoli, which 
was grateful for his aid in developing its commerce. Gardt- 
hausen, however, citing the case of Terracina, where these 
reasons would not apply but where the living monarch was 
none the less worshipped, considers justly that the opinion 
of Hirschfeld here is untenable. It should be remarked, how- 
ever, that the instance at Terracina is not parallel with the 
examples of the divine honor rendered to Augustus in Cam- 
pania, as in the former case his cult was combined with that 
of Roma (4). In all probability the early worship in Cam- 
pania as stated above, was due chiefly to the character of the 
inhabitants. 

The cult was carried on by a multiplicity of organizations 
principally composed of freedmen and slaves. Its flourishing 
condition both in temples and in connection with the Lares 
Corr^pitales is abundantly attested by epigraphical remains 
from Pompeii and other places. The important organization 
which embraced the most wealthy and influential members 
of the class of freedmen was found in all the Campanian 
towns, where it bore the name of Augustales without the ad- 
dition of seuiri (5). 

(1) Beurlier, Le culte imperial 169; Geiger De sacerdotibus Augustorum 
municipalibus 9. 

(2) Dubois, Pouzzoles antique 145 ; Hirschfeld, Zur Geschichie des rotn. 
Kaiserkultes in Sitzungsber. des preuss. Academic der Wiss. XXXV (1888) part 

2 837 f. = Kleine Schriften 477 f. 

(3) Hirschfeld, Kleine Schriften 533. 

(4) Hirschfeld, Kleine Schriften 477; C. /. L. X, 6305; Gardthausen, 
Augustus und seine Zeit II, 517, note 66. 

(5) Beurlier, Le culte imperiale 17, 194; von Premerstedn., Augustales, 
Ruggier© I, 829; Neumann, Augustales P.-W. II 2356; L. Taylor, Augustales, Se- 
viri Augustales, Seviri in Trans, and. Proc. of the Amer. Phil. Assoc. XLV 

(1914) 234. 

-35 - 



The excavations at Pompeii give invaluable assistance to 
our efforts to obtain an idea of religious conditions prevalent 
in Campania at the opening of the Christian era, when the 
pagan world was at the height of its power. Stimulated by 
the injection of a new element in the form of the worship of 
the deified Emperors and by the care shown for religion by 
Augustus, the polytheistic system showed an abundance of 
life (1). Besides the formal religion of the state, the cults 
which appealed to the individual were now present to round 
out the religious life of the community, but had not begun to 
manifest appreciably their disintegrating effects (2). The 
remains of Pompeii bear witness to a thriving religious life 
in the first century A. D., marked by a sufficiency of public 
temples and by countless wayside and domestic shrines. Per- 
sons interested in the adornment of the city, and desiring at 
the same time to honor the gods, set up statues of various 
deities at their own expense in public places, - a fact often 
mentioned in inscriptions. Petronius, speaking of some Cam- 
panian city the identity of which is disputed, says that the 
community in question was so crowded with gods that they 
were easier to find than men (3). 

Festivals occupied an important place in the life of the 
times, and though valued largely as a means of relaxation or 
excitement, were often at least nominally of a religious na- 
ture. Those in which the latter characteristic predominated 
comprised the old celebrations marking the anniversary of 
temple foundations. According to Nissen such festivals at 
Pompeii occurred chiefly in the summer from May to Au- 

(1) Macchioro, II sincretismo religioso e Vepigrafia in Ret?, arch. IX 
(1907) 279 f. 

(2) The most thoughtful men at Rome, however, perceived the danger 
of these religions, and from time to time tried to do away with them at least 
in Rome itself. Cp. Macchioro op. cit. 142. 

(3) Petron. 17: Nostra regio tarn praesentibus plena est numinibus ut 
facilius possis deum cuara hominem inuenire. Cp. Capasso-De Petra Napoli 
greco-romana 5. The place referred to by Petronius is probably Neapolis. Cp. 
Collignon, Etude sur Petron 4; Cocchia, Napoli e il Satyricon di Petronio Arbitro 
in Arch. stor. Nap. XVIII (1893) 278 f. ; Ussani, Studi Italiani di filologia classica 

XIII (1905) 17. But Cumae, Puteoli, and Misenum have also had their champions. 
See list in Schanz. Gesch. der rom. Lit. II, part 2, 126. 

36 - 



gust (1). Besides the series of games like the Italica at Nea- 
polis, which were peculiar to a single locality, we may infer 
that the principal festivals recognized in the capital had their 
counterparts in the Campanian towns. This condition of af- 
fairs is abundantly illustrated by the record of festivals cele- 
brated at Cumae in honor of Augustus, which were similar to 
those at Rome but not identical with them (2). Religion also 
had an intimate relation to the d&ily life of the people, as is 
proved by a multitude of altars and shrines and by the cir- 
cumstance that mural decorations, statuary, and even hastily 
scrawled graffiti represent or allude to various deities. These, 
it is true, ordinarily stand for no particular attitude of devotion 
and in the work of sculptor and painter a decorative rather 
than a religious purpose was dominant, yet they show how 
completely such religious notions as were in vogue were asso- 
ciated with the life and thought of the people in general, and 
at all events the deity who became popular in art was first a 
force in religion. The divinity's secularization appears in the 
case of Attis who came into prominence in Italy late enough 
for us to follow his development. The figure of the Mourning 
Attis, which at first had a deep religious significance became 
in Campania by the time of the Flavian Emperors merely a 
popular type to reproduce in art (3). 

With the lapse of time the cults derived from the East 
encroached more and more upon the domain of the older 
deities. To the causes for their growth existent in earlier times 
was added the circumstance that Agrippa had made Misenum 
a great naval station to which many Orientals were attached. 
Records transmitted from Puteoli show that nearly every O- 
riental cult reaching the West was represented in that section. 
Here in 134 A. D. the first recorded taurobolium was perform- 
ed as a part of the ritual of Venus Caelestis. Long before 
this Christianity had been introduced and as elsewhere made 
its first converts among the Jews. The latter were present in 
considerable numbers in this region, as is proved by notices 
which have reached us from Puteoli, Neapolis, Capua, Pom- 

(I) Nissen, Orientation 288-7. 

(2) See p. 79. 

(3) Graillot, Le culte de Cybele, 438. 

- 37 - 



peii and other towns (1). According to Tertullian there 
were no Christians in Campania in 79 A. D. upon whom the 
blame for the disaster of that year could he laid; but while 
the Christian communities were then insignificant and obscure, 
it is impossible to doubt their presence (2). 

The newer forms of religion, increasing steadily in the 
second century A. D. at the expense of the old, took great 
strides forward in the third (3). This, however, is an infer- 
ence drawn from the history of these cults in general rather 
than a fact based upon evidence belonging to this region, 
which is comparatively meager for the third century. Nor are 
we in a position to follow the qualitative changes which took 
place in the various cults after the days of the Roman Repub- 
lic. It has been maintained that such modifications did not 
take place and the worship of Mithras has been cited as an 
example of the stability found in the pagan cults (4). Now 
it is indeed true that religion of every form is naturally conser- 
vative and opposed to innovations, - a condition that appears 
at its maximum in the religious practices controlled directly 
by the state and at its minimum in the cults of personal devo- 
tion. But in spite of this innate conservatism the history of re- 
ligion demonstrates that there is inevitably some change either 
in its forms and doctrines or at least in the significance attach- 
ed to its acts. So the cult of Mithras doubtless had some 
local peculiarities and underwent minor modifications in the 
course of time. If the taurobolium was never a feature of this 
cult, it became at a relatively late date by official sanction 
an integral part of the ceremonies of Magna Mater, though o- 

(I) Juster, Les Juifs dans V empire romain I, 182; Harnack, Die Mission 
nnd Ausbreitung des Christentums II, 216; Renan, Antichrist (translation of 
Allen) 37; Schiirer, Gesch. d. Juden, III, 67, gives a list of the chief Jewish 
communties in Italy. The earliest reference to their presence is a notice of 
the year 4 B. C. from Puteoli* 

(2) Tert. apol. 40. Cp. Harnack, op. cit. II, 74. 

(3) For a list of the places in southern Italy where the chief Oriental 
cults are attested see Drexler, Meter, Roscher II, 2919 f. and I sis, Roscher 
II, 398. 

(4) Macchioro, Ret?, arch. IX (1907), 156; Wissowa, 372-373. 

38 



riginally it was entirely separated from them (I). There was 
probably a tendency toward syncretism with a modification 
of the ideas for which the old gods stood, but this feature did 
not become very prominent in Campania (2). The worship 
of the Emperors, which had degenerated everywhere by the 
third century has left no traces of its continued existence in 
Campania (3). The attempted revival of the old state religion 
on the part of the Emperor Decius through a persecution of 
the Christians met with little permanent success (4). 

The adherents of the latter religion had already in the 
second century a community at Neapolis in addition to the 
one established at Puteoli (5). At first they remained al- 
most unnoticed but their ever increasing numbers soon com- 
pelled attention and finally alarm on the part of the author- 
ities. While their membership was largely composed of 
humble folk, converts of high rank especially women were 
not unknown from early times. They were confined to the 
towns and made no progress in the open country (6). De- 
tails of the early churches, however, are entirely lacking in 
the Campanian cities. In spite of the persecutions which at- 

(1) Cumont, Textes et monuments figuris relatif aux mysteres de Mi~ 
thra I, 293. Cp. I, 152 For the origin and development of the taurobolium and 

its extension to other cults) see Cumont, I, 334; Rev. arch. XII (1888) 132 f . ; Rev. 
d'hist et de litt. relig. VI (1901) 102, and. Rev. de phil. XVII (1893) 195 f.; 
Esperandieu, Taurobolium D.-S. V, 46 ; Zippel, Das Taurobolium in Festschrift 
fur Friedlander 498 f . ; WissoWa, 324; Loisy, Rev. d f hist. et de litt. relig. IV 
(1913) 311; Hepding, Attis 199 (Religionsgeschichtliche Versuche und Vorar- 
beiten I.). 

(2) Macchioro, Ret?, arch. IX (1907) 141 f. Cp. Reville. La religion a 

Rome sous les Severes 109. 

(3) Beurlier, Le culte imperiale 44. 

(4) Seeck, Gesch. d. Untergangs d. ant. Welt III, 298 ; von Domaszewski 
Magna Mater in Latin Inscriptions 'n Jour. Rom. Stud. I, (1911) 153. 

(5) Harnack. Die Mission u. Ausbreitung d. Chrisientums II, 76; Lanzoni 
Riv. storico-crit. delle scienze teoh VI (1910) 293. 

(6) I Corinthians, I, 26; Origen, contra Celsum I 27, III 18, 44; VIII 75; 
Min. Fel. Octav. V, 8-12; Lucian, Peregrinus 12-13; Weitsacker, Das apostolische 
Zeitalter 407 f . ; Harnack, op. cit. II 25 f . ; Knopf, Ueber die soziale Zusam- 
mensetzung der altesten heidenchristlichen Gemeinden in Zeits. fiir Theol. und 

Kirche X (1900) 325 f. and Nachapostolisches Zeitalter 64 f. The same may be 
said of the earlier followers of Mithras, Cumont, Mithras Roscher II, 3036; Bigg, 
The Origins of Christianity 20; Gratz-Braun, Gescfi. der Juden III, 419. 

-39 - 



tempted to stop the increase of Christianity as soon as its 
identity and principles became fully known, it had succeeded 
in planting and maintaining other churches especially in south- 
ern Italy, as is indicated by the circumstance that a large 
part of the sixty bishops who participated in the Council 
called by Pope Cornelius in 25 1 , seem to have come from this 
section (1). 

At the beginning of the fourth century there were Christ- 
ian communities also at Capua, Misenum, Nola, and Nu- 
ceria; a resident bishop presided over the churches of Nea- 
polis and Nola and probably likewise over those of Capua 
and Puteoli. According to the Liber Poniificalis Constantine 
erected basilicas at Capua and Neapolis, the only cities outside 
of Rome for which this honor is recorded (2). There were 
in all probability more Christians here than in the central and 
northern parts of the peninsula. In fact the coast district cen- 
tering at Puteoli and Neapolis was one of the three great strong- 
holds of this religion in Italy (3). As a result of the perse- 
cutions, especially that under Diocletian, a considerable 
number of martyrs were recorded in the various churches. 
Many Jews were likewise present in the Campanian cities 
especially Neapolis; their history, however, is very obscure 
till the very close of the ancient world (4). 

(!) Eusebius, Historia ecclesiastica VI, 43; Harnack, Die Mission u. Aus- 
breitung d. Christentums II, 212, 215; Duchesne, Origines du culte chritien 29. 
The total number of bishops in Italy in the third century is estimated at 100. 
The period 260-300 was everyhere one of great advancement for the Church. 
Harnack op. cit. II, 216. 

(2) Liber Pontificalis XXXI, XXXII (Duchesne's edition I, 186; Lan- 
zoni, Riv. storico-crit. delle scienze teol. VI (1910) 294. 

(3) The other centers were Rome and Ariminum. Harnack, op. cit. II 
220. 

(4) A law of Honorius belonging to the year 398 mentions the Jews in 
Apulia and Calabria. Cod. Theod. XII, I, 158; Tamassia, Ebrei nell'ltalia me- 
ridionale in Atti del r. 1st. Verxeto LXIII (1903-4) 796 f . ; Ferorelli, Gli Ebrei 

nell'ltalia meridiondle in Arch. stor. Nap. XXXII (1907) 255. A letter of Pope 
Gelasius I to a bishop Quinigesius, whose see was located in some Campanian 
town which can not now be determined, speaks of a certain Telesinus as a 
man of prominence who was a believer in the doctrines of the Jews (before 
499). Mansi, Amplissima collectio conciliorum VIII 131 ; Ascoli. Istmzione di an- 
tichi sepolcri giudaici del Napolitano 35 ; Tamassa, loc. cit. ; Gratz-Eppenstein 
Gesch. der Juden V. 40. 

- 40 - 



Although the triumph of Christianity was assured as soon 
as it was officially recognized by the government and had 
obtained the sanction of the reigning emperor Constantine, 
it still had several important battles to fight before Paganism 
was overthrown. Ancient heathen practices continued to have 
a place for many years after the system as a whole had been 
repudiated as the state religion of the Roman Empire. The 
Emperors, it is true, passed frequent ordinances restricting 
the activity of those who clung to the old order of things, yet 
in their attitude to the pagan religion these rulers were often 
inconsistent. Thus at the end of the fourth century provincial 
priests were still regularly appointed to supervise the religious 
interests of the different districts, and in carrying out their 
work acted as the Emperor's representative to put the stamp 
of official approval upon religious exercises belonging to Pa- 
ganism (1). 

An important original document, exemplifying the acti- 
vity of this kind of official, affords an insight into the state of 
religion prevailing in Campania during the reign of Valenti- 
nian II and Theodosius (2). It is dated Nov. 22, 387 and 
consists of a list of festivals, authorized by Imperial consent for 
the Campanian region; it was promulgated at Capua, the chief 
Campanian city at that time, which served as the residence 
of the provincial priest Romanus Junior (3). Though there 
was a strong Christian community in this locality, it is likely 
that this priesthood was favored or at least tolerated on ac- 
count of the part played by its incumbent in providing 

(1) The privileges of this officer were taken away by a decree of general 
application issued in 396. Cod. Theod. XVI, 10, 14. The priesthood is treated by 
Marquardt, Ep. Eph. I, 213 and Rom. Staatsveru). 1 , 504 f. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 3792 = D. 4918 = V. 1022. Commentaries by Avellino, 
Opuscoli diversi III, 215-304; Mommsen, Berichte der sacks. Ges. der Wiss. 
1850 64 f. = Gesammelte Schriften VIII, 14-24. 

(3) Mommsen op. cit. 16 calls attention to the fact that this day was the 
anniversary of Valentinian's ascent to the throne. For the extent of Campania at 
this time see Ruggiero, II 42 and. p. 1 of this work. Avellino thought that the 

festivals were of only local s ; gnificance; Mommsen on the contrary believed 
that they were intended for the entire province. Probably they were designed 
for the region tributary to Capua. The danger of having too many holidays was 

averted by legal enactments. Cp. Cod. lust III, 12, 3; III, 12, 6; Cod. Theod. 

II, 8. 

-41 - 



games (1). A second person Felix, who attended to the prep- 
aration of the inscription, was considered by Mommsen to 
be a subordiate official directly dependent on the Emperor (2). 

The holy days here enumerated are marked by obser- 
vances of a general human interest and are not concerned 
with the worship of any particular god. The first festival on 
Jari. 3 is devoted to the making of annual prayers for the 
welfare of the Emperor and also by implication for that of the 
state, - a time hallowed custom observed at Rome and through- 
out the extent of the Empire (3). The act was not one 
which was repugnant to the ideas of the Christians; in fact 
it was adopted by the Church and is mentioned as late as the 
seventh century (4). The second festival called Genialia 
under date of Feb. 1 1 seems to stand for ludi genialici, a term 
that reappears in the fasti Philocali (5). Its real significance 
is unknown. According to Mommsen's original interpretation 
it was a celebration in honor of birth; according to his later 
view which is followed by Otto and is more plausible, these 
games were connected with the establishment of a cult of the 
Genius of the Roman people at the rostra in Rome (6). 

While the first festival and probably also the second were 
patriotic in character, the third, coming on the first of May, 
was in the interest of agriculture and consisted of a lustration 
of the growing crops. It was held at the town of Casilinum 
by the Volturnus River, where the modern Capua stands, and 
may have been originally a festival in honor of the divinity 
of the local stream (7). The thirteenth .day of the same 
month is marked for the celebration of the rosalia, which at 
Rome took place as a public festival ten days later but which 

(1) Avellino, Opusc. diversi III, 280; Marquardt, Rom. Staatsverw. I, 505. 

(2) Mommsen, Gesam. Schr, VIII, 17. 

(3) Marquardt, HI, 266; Preller-Jordan, I, 133, 182; Wissowa, 382. 

(4) Mommsen, Gesam. Schr. VIII 18; Mansi, Amplissima colleciio con- 
ciliorum XI, 972, section 62 of the Canons of Trullo (691 A. D.). 

(5) C. /. L. I, p. 258. 

(6) Mommsen, Gesam. Schr. VIII, 18 and C. /. L. I, 309; Avellino, 
Opusc. diversi, 242; W. F. Otto, Genius P. - W. VII, 1166; Jordan, Topog. d. 
Stadt Rom I, part 2, 377. Cp. Chronographus anni 354 in Mommsen, Chronica 
minora I, 148. 

(7) For an account of the ceremonies of lustration see Marquardt-Wis- 
sowa. Rom. Staatsr. Ill , 201 ; Wissowa, 390. 

-42 - 



was also celebrated privately at other times (I). The main 
feature of the day was the decoration of the graves with 
flowers, an act which appealed to the Christian population 
as well as the Pagans, with the result that the festival was 
taken over into the ceremonies of the Church (2). The 
amphitheater mentioned in this record is doubtless that of 
Capua, where certain public exercises would be held prior to 
the decoration of the graves. 

The next festivals are dated [July 25 and July 27 respec- 
tively. The first, described as a lustration at the river reached 
by the Via Dianae, seems to be another celebration belonging 
to rural life and marking the close of the harvest period (3). 
It was held at the bridge over the Volturnus River east of Ca- 
silinum, a spot at no great distance from the famous temple 
of Diana on the slope of Mt. Tifata (4). Two days later the 
place and character of the festival changed. It was now held 
in the vicinity of Lake Avernus near Baiae and Cumae and 
assumed the character of a commemorative service for the 
dead, a midsummer All Souls* day, which was paralleled by 
the Roman feralia celebrated in the opposite part of the year. 
The place of the service was fitting, as it had been associated 
from time immemorial with the dead and with the chthonic 
deities. The last festival under date of Oct. 15 was assigned to 
the vicinity of the neighboring Lake Acherusia (Lago del 
Fusaro), and was concerned with the vintage. The legal term 
for the feriae uindemiales extended from Aug. 23 to Oct. 15; 
comparing this with the feriae . messiuae already mentioned, 
we may infer that the duration of the season for Campania 
was one month before Oct. 15, and that here too the last day 
formed the principal part of the festivities (5). 

(1) Cp. Fasti Philocali, C. I. L. I, p. 264; cp. p. 318. 

(2) Avellino, Opusc. diversi III, 254 f . ; Marquardt-Wissowa, Rom. 
Siaatsr. Ill, 311 ; Steuding, Manes, RoscSer II, 2322. 

(3) Mommsen, Gesam. Schr., VIII, 19. The inierpretatio to the Cotisti- 
tutiones of Theodosius II, 8 states that the harvest festival with its cessation of 
legal business should be considered from June 24 to Aug. 1. The time to be 
regarded as a legal holiday seems to have been fixed in accordance with local 
conditions in the various provinces, so that in Campania the period ended July 25. 

(4) Preller-Jordan, II, 142 note 3. 

(5) Inierpretatio to the Constitutiones of Theodosius loc. cit. 

-43 - 



The various celebrations therefore which were ordered 
by the Romans pertained to religion only in its broadest sense. 
Free from any tendency toward sectarianism, they exhibit the 
traits of an age of toleration, and seem designed to afford all 
classes of citizens, Christian as well as Pagan, the opportunity 
to meet on neutral ground, where the prejudices of neither 
party would be disturbed. It thus affords an insight into con- 
ditions which prevailed at a critical period of European his- 
tory, - the transition from the old regime to the new. It is 
the last word from Campania before the change was effected. 



-44 . 



CHAPTER II 
CUMAE, BAIAE, MISENUM, 

Cumae has secured a lasting renown as the first Greek 
colony in the western Mediterranean. Founded upon the pre- 
cipitous rocks which approach the sea to the north of Cape 
Misenum, it was protected for the most part by insurmountable 
walls. Toward the east, however, the land slopes away more 
gradually to form a valley and thus afforded no natural pro- 
tection. At first the settlement was doubtless confined to the 
Acropolis, as was the case in the early Middle Ages, after 
the town had been violently ravaged. The volcanic soil of the 
surrounding country interspersed with numerous lakes received 
the name of the Phlegraean Fields. 

Though once a community of importance, its territory 
was always comparatively small. The Campanian plain, which 
extended to a point only a few miles distant from its walls on 
the north and east, was originally owned by Capua; when this 
in large measure was taken away from its former proprietors 
by the Romans, the latter utilized it for establishing colonies, 
and henceforth Liternum became the neighbor of Cumae on 
the north. Immediately to the east began the territory of Pu- 
teoli. Under Augustus Cape Misenum left the jurisdiction of 
Cumae and became the seat of an independent municipality. 
In the Ager Cumanus remained the lakes Avernus, Lucrinus 
and Acherusia as well as the subordinate communities Bauli 
and Baiae, which seem to have had no separate legal exist- 
ence, though the latter during the Empire had far surpassed 
Cumae itself in importance. 

Archaeological evidence points to a considerable mari- 
time activity in the seventh and sixth centuries B. C. At this 

- 45 



time Cumae exercised • its great mission as a civilizing force, 
and the characters of its script, coming to the knowledge of 
the Italian peoples, formed the basis for all their alphabets. 
Later, commerce dwindled and agriculture became the leading 
source of wealth. Under foreign domination the town declined 
rapidly in all respects, until it produced little that was worthy 
of note except a certain kind of pottery. Under the Empire it 
was celebrated for its tranquillity, and regarded merely as the 
« gate to Baiae » (1). 

As the Greeks arrived at such an early time - probably in 
the eighth century B. C. - there was much uncertainty about 
the circumstances connected with their settlement. The col- 
ony was certainly largely Chalcidian, but it is probable that 
other Greek cities particularly Cyme (in Aetolia ?) had a share 
in the colonization. At any rate the settlement prospered 
greatly and before long sent out colonies of its own to Zancle 
in Sicily and to the Italian coast immediately to the south, 
where Naples and Pozzuoli now stand. Its power continued 
for another century under the able leadership of Aristodemus, 
who was successful in defending his city against the combined 
attack of the Etruscans irom Capua and of pther tribes belong- 
ing to the neighborhood. (524 B. C.) Later in conjunction with 
the fleet of Syracuse, Cumae overthrew the naval supremacy 
of the Etruscans (474 B. C), but within another half century 
was itself stormed by the Samnites (428 or 421). Many of the 
inhabitants fled to Neapolis, and though the Greek customs 
and institutions continued to survive, the Oscan speech grad- 
ually came into regular use (2). 

When Campania came under the sway of the Romans, 
Cumae was forced to accept the same masters, and at that 
time received the right of limited citizenship (ciuitas sine suf~ 
fragio 334 B. C). After its loss of independence its history offers 
little of interest. It formed a part of the jurisdiction of the 
prcEJectus Capuam Gurnets, and in the tumultuous times of the 

(1) For accounts of Cumae see Beloch, Campanien im Alterthum 157; 
Nissen, It. Landes\unde II, 717 f . ; De Petra, / Porti antichi dell 'Italic^ merid. in 
Monografia storica dei porti delV antichita nella penisola italiana 317. 

(2) Strab. V. 4, 4. According to Gabrici the Samnite influence became 
preponderant in art. Cuma in Boll, d'arte IV (1910) 112. 

-46 - 



Carthaginian wars it remained faithful to Rome. In the year 
180 B. C. it adopted Latin as the official language, received 
the full suffrage at about the same time, and continued as a 
Roman municipality till Augustus located there a military co- 
lony. We hear little of it henceforth except in connection 
with Baiae. Its Acropolis, however, remained a stronghold 
well into the Middle Ages, as it is known to have resisted suc- 
cessfully the army of Narses in his war against the Goths. In 
fact it fell only at the beginning of the thirteenth century, 
when it was stormed by the Neapolitans (1205) (1). 

The importance of Cumae in the field of ancient religion 
is greater than the size or intrinsic worth of the place at any 
time would suggest. On the one hand it was the seat of reli- 
gious traditions embodied in literature, which gained a wide 
currency and a commanding influence. On the other hand it 
exercised a great positive influence upon the religion of its 
neighbors in the early centuries; from this source, as has al- 
ready been explained, went forth the Greek conceptions of the 
gods which modified so profoundly the primitive notions of 
the Italian peoples (2). 

PHRATRY GODS 

For the constitution of the state in its religious aspects 
there is no direct evidence. Something, however, may be in- 
ferred from our knowledge of early conditions in Cumae's 
flourishing colony Neapolis. From this source we learn of the 
existence of phratries having their own gods and religious 
observances (3). An inscription from Neapolis alludes to a ded- 
ication made to the gods of the phratry of the Kymaioi ; the term 
may refer to the refugees that fled to Neapolis at the time of 
the Samnite conquest, but as Beloch observes, it may also des- 
ignate a phratry already existent at Cumae, composed of 

(I) For the history of Cumae consult Mommsen C. /. L. X, p. 350; Beloc/i 

145-152; Gabrici, Cuma in Mon. ant. XXII (1913) 439-448; Byvanck, De Magnae 

Graeciae historic antiquissima 81; Gardthausen, Das Alter italischer Schrift°und 

die Grundung von Cumae in Neue Jahrb. fur das class. Altertum XXXVII 

(1916) 369 f. 

(2) See p. 18. 

(3) Cp. Beloch, 42. 

-47 . 



settlers from that Cyme — either in Aetolia or Eufcoea — which 
sent colonists to its Italian namesake (1). Hence there is the 
same possibility here as at Neapolis that Hephaestus, Diony- 
sus, &nd Heracles were considered as the special divinities of 
this phratry (2). Likewise the other phratries cited at Neapolis 
probably existed for the most part in the parent city with the 
same organization and gods. They will be considered more 
fully in the treatment of Neapolis. 

ZEUS 

Among the old Greek divinities who came to Italy with 
the first settlers from Chalcis was Zeus, who was recognized in 
that city under the designation of Olympius and Milichius (3). 
But, while Zeus appears there as the guardian of oaths, evi- 
dence is lacking for magnifying his influence and calling him, 
as does Beloch, the protecting divinity of that state, with the 
assumption that his worship was consequently of much impor- 
tance in the colony (4). Yet he doubtless occupied here a com- 
modious temple where his worship continued through the various 
stages of the city's history both as Zeus and later as Jupiter, 
when Roman influence predominated. An evidence of the high 
position attained by the cult appears in the fact that the temple 
contained gold in the third century B. C. and that an omen 
reported here was considered important enough to affect the 
fortunes of the Roman people. In narrating the events of 208 
B. C. before the consuls proceeded to their provinces, Livy 
inserts a list of ominous occurences pertaining to Campania, 
among which was the notice that mice had gnawed gold in the 
Jupiter temple, attacking perhaps the very image of the 
deity (5). The site of the earliest shrine was probably on the 

(1) Beloch 41. /. G. XIV, 721 = C. /. G. 5788. Cp. also the phratey of 
the Euboioi, N. S. 1900, 269. 

(2) Engelmann, r Arch. Zeit XXXI (1874)133; Farnell, Cults of the Greek 
States V, 395 ; von Wilamowitz, Nachr. von der kgl Gesells. der Wiss. zu Got- 
tingen 1895, 228 note 24. 

(3)/. G. I, 27 A; C. /. G. 2150. 

(4) Beloch, 156, 161. 

(5) Liv. XXVII, 23, 2; Et ex Campania nuntiata erant Cumis - adeo 
minimis etiam rebus praua. religio inserit deos - mures in aede Iouis aurum ro- 
sisse. Cp. Plut. Sulla VII. 

-48 - 



Acropolis in the midst of the first settlement. Beloch located 
it on the western spur of the heights, perhaps the most sightly 
situation in the city, where the ruins of a temple have left their 
traces. Although they have now almost disappeared, steps and 
fragments of columns still stood in their original position at 
the close of the eighteenth century, and De Iorio remarks that 
they vanished during his life time (1). Beloch's identification 
is based upon the fact that so prominent a position and so large 
a structure as the foundation walls indicate must have belong- 
ed to a very important deity (2). But it is just as likely that 
some other deity important in the earlier period of the city 
occupied this site, especially since Servius seems to exclude 
Jupiter from the Acropolis, and it has been proposed to asso- 
ciate this spot with the sanctuary of the Dioscuri. 

7 he name of Jupiter has also been connected with a ruin 
of Roman times, known as the Tempio dei Giganti, which 
stood on the plain outside the walls. Only a few stones of this 
structure still remain, but a drawing made in the eighteenth 
century (1740) shows the rear wall to have then been stand- 
ing (3). In a large niche of this building stood apparently a 
colossal statue of Jupiter, which was discovered in the eigh- 
teenth century and is now in the National Museum at Naples. 
It is a Roman work assigned to the first century of the Empire; 
resembling the Zeus of Otricoli and the Pompeian Jupiter, it 
is of inferior execution. Gabrici maintains that it is a represen- 
tation of Jupiter Victor rather than of Jupiter Stator (4), 

Other references to the divinity designated as Zeus or 
Jupiter consist of the allusion to a sacrifice ordered to Jupiter 



(1) De Iorio, Guida di Pozzuoli 115. This writer fancied that these re- 
mains belonged to the Greek temple of Apollo. His plan of the city is repro- 
duced by Beloch, PI. IV and by Gabrici, Cuma in Mon. Ant. XXII, PI. II. 

(2) Beloch, 161. 

(3) Reproduced in Boll d'arte IV (1910) 110; Mon. ant. XXII, PI. 11. De 
Iorio seems to ha/e thought this a temple of Mercury in the Forum of the city. 
Guida 118; cp. Paoli, A ntiquitatum reliquiae fol. 29, PI. XLVII. This spot 
appears in reality to have been occupied by a temple of Ceres. 

(4) Gabrici, Boll d'arte IV (1910) 116 and Mon. ant. XXII, 18. The sculp- 
ture is portrayed in these works p. 112 and p. 19 respectively and also in Real 
Museo di Napoli III frontispiece. Cp. Rusch, Guida illustrata del Museo nazio~ 
nale di Napoli 287 No. 1258; Gerhard-Panofka, Neapeh anti\e Bildwerke 318. 

- 49 - 



Sempiternus in honor of Augustus, which will be treated under 
the worship of the Emperors, and a doubtful inscription on a 
painted vase found at Cumae. The reading of the latter, how- 
ever, is rather eo Ecaryjp than Zso Scdttjp, though in any 
case there is probably an allusion to the custom of offering a 
special libation to this god (1). 

APOLLO 

Much more information has reached us respecting the 
cult of Apollo, who according to tradition conducted the Greek 
colonists to their new home in the West. Statius in his Silvae, 
although speaking of Neapolis, refers to this god as one of the 
old deities of the Chalcidians under whose leadership their 
fleet found its way to Italy, and in another passage of the same 
series of poems alludes to the dove that flew ahead of them as 
the god's representative (2). This notion is in keeping espe- 
cially with the custom of the Chalcidians to send out colonies 
which were regarded as tithes due to Apollo, and we may con- 
clude that he was venerated at Cumae as a patron of coloni- 
zation (3). 

His temple, already one of the foremost shrines of Italy, 
attained a remarkable celebrity because of the detailed account 
of it inserted by Vergil in his Aeneid. According to the tradi- 
tion adopted by the poet it had been founded by the inventor 
Daedalus, who as in Sicily figures here as an architect. Alight- 
ing in the Acropolis after a flight through the air directly from 
Crete, or arriving after a stay in Sardinia, as reported by Sal- 
lust, he built this sanctuary to commemorate his escape and 

(1) Avellino, Bull. Nap. n. s. VM (1858) 21. 

(2) Stat. silv. IV, 8, 47-49: 

Tu, ductor populi longe migrantis, Apollo 

cuius adhuc uolucrem laeua ceruice sedentem 

respiciens blande felix Eumelus adorat. 
With the appearance of the dove here may be compared the raven at 
Cyrene and the dolphin at Crisa. Roscher. 'Apollo I, 441. Stat site. Ill, 5, 79-80: 

Cui mite solum trans aequora uectae 

ipse Dionaea monstrauit Apollo columba. 
Cp. Anon. Laus Pisonis 91 = Bahrens, Poetae Latini I, 228. 

(3) Roscher Zoc. cit. 

- 50 - 



piously dedicated his wings to the god (1). Upon the panels 
of the door he depicted events connected with the Cretan royal 
family and thus indirectly with himself. Upon the first was 
shown the death of Androgeus, son of Minos, and with it the 
King's revenge, — the selection of Athenian victims for the 
Minotaur; upon the other was portrayed the unnatural passion 
of Pasiphae, the Labyrinth and the Minotaur (2). This de- 
scription can not have been wholly a creation of the poet's 
imagination, but was rather an allusion to an actual door of 
fine workmanship portraying this myth, a feature of the temple 
which had given rise to the legend that it was a foundation of 
Daedalus. The same tradition of the temple as an ancient me- 
morial erected by this hero appears in Silius. In this passage 
Virrius, leader of the Capuan allies of Hannibal, points to 
the shrine « gleaming on the rock of the citadel », and declares 
that it was made by greater hands than those of the present 
age (3). In the connection of Daedalus with the temple Gruppe 
sees one of the rare cases of Cretan influence in Italy and 
thinks of an early settlement. But Pais believes that the connec- 
tion of the Daedalus legend with Cumae is late and due to 
Sicilian influence that reached Cumae only in the time of Hiero 
after the defeat of the Etruscans by the aid of that prince (4). 
Like other ancient shrines this one had a venerable cult 
statue of wood, which was doubtless carefully preserved 
through all improvements and restorations of the building that 
housed it. Impressive in size, it measured no less than fifteen 

(1) Serv. Aen. VI, 14: Daedalus uero primo Sardiniam, ut dicit Sallustius, 
post delatus est Cumas, et templo Apollini condito sacratisque ei alis in foribus 

haec uniuersa depinxit. 

(2) Verg. Aen. VI, 20-33. 

(3) Sil. XII, 85-103: 

Atque hie perlustrans aditus, fulgentia cernit 

arcis templo iugo, quorum turn Virrius altae 

inmit's ductor Capuae pri ordia pandit: 

« non est hoc», inquit, « nostri, quod suspicis aeui, 

maiores fecere manus 

Hoc pro nubiuago gratus pia templa meatu 
inmitis ductor Capuae primordia pandit: 
instituit Phoebi atque audacis exuit alasa. 
The reference is to the temple of Apollo at Cumae, not to that at Capua 
as asserted by C. Robert, Daidalos P. - W. IV, 2005, 

(4) Gruppe 360; Pais, Stor. della Sic. e della Magna Grecia I, 163. 

- 51 - 



Roman feet; hence the expression altus Apollo employed by- 
Vergil was regarded by the ancients as a possible reference to 
this image (1). Among the holy relics which the shrine pur- 
ported to possess were the wings of Daedalus, which we may 
infer were not on exhibition, and the tusks of the Erymanthian 
boar; the claims made for the latter by the natives were re- 
jected by Pausanias who denied their authenticity (2). An 
allusion to this relic has been seen by certain numismatists on 
old coins of Cumae, which show the skin from a lion's head 
between the heads of two wild boars (3). The appearance here 
of this legend has been ascribed by Pais to Doric influence 
from Syracuse in the fifth century, but it is more probably due 
to an actual immigration of Arcadians from Psophis (4). 

The temple is mentioned occasionally in Roman history 
because of the appearance of prodigies. These all occurred in 
connection with Apollo's statue, which on these occasions was 
found covered with moisture, either perspiration or tears. The 
first recorded instance of the miracle belongs to the beginning 
of the second century B. C. during the war with Antiochus the 
Great; the second has reference to the period of the third Ma- 
cedonian conflict, waged against Perseus; the third example, 
referred by Augustine to the time of the war against the Achae- 
ans and King Aristonicus, claimant of the kingdom of Per- 
gamon, is evidently inaccurately related, as more than a decade 



(1) Coelius fr. 54 in Peter, Hist. Rom. frag. p. 107. Servius, Aen. VI, 
9: «Altus» autem.... uel ad) simulacri magnitudinem retulit, quod esse constat aj- 

tissimum. Coelius enim de Cumano Apolline ait ibi fano signum Apollinis 
ligneum, ahum non minus pedes XV. Cp. Busolt, 393 note 3. 

(2) Baus. VIII, 24, 5:Kojaatot bi ot £v 'Omxof£ aod£ d8<5vxa£ avaxsiaivoos 
rcapfc ocpCoiv Iv ''AizdWwvos lepfy Xoycp uiv Xixouaw &<; ol odovTSg bo<; slsv zoo 
'Epou-avOfoo, x<p Xoytp S& aoxtov oOS' £%* dXiyov uixeoxtv xoG sfotdxo£. 

Pfister, Der Reliquienkult im Altertum I, 325. 
(3) The coin is shown by A. Sambon, 150 No. 244-249 and by Garrucci, 
Le monete dell'lt. ant. PI. 83, N°. 23. The theories concerning this money are dis- 
cussed by A. Sambon, 141-142, L. Sambon, Recherches sur les monnaies 
dela presquisle it alt que 137. A religious significance here is denied by Macdon- 
ald, Coin Types 79. Cp. Dressel, Beschreibung der antiken Miinzen HI, p. 93. 
(4) Gruppe, 371 ; Pais, Stor. della Sic. I, 163 and Ancient Italy 269. 

- 52 - 



elapsed between these conflicts (!). It is worth noting that 
Augustine cites both the earlier occurrences of the miracle in 
his interesting account of the superstition that gathered around 
the omens from Cumae. Because the image had « wept » con- 
tinuously for four days, certain soothsayers, who had probably 
beeu consulted by the Roman government, decided that it 
ought to be cast into the sea, but the leading men of the city, 
loath to part with such a willing worker of miracles, counselled 
against the project on the ground that it had behaved similarly 
in previous crises, which none the less had turned out in the 
end most fortunately for the Roman people. In fact they made 
the plausible supposition that since the cult had been brought 
from Greece, the god naturally felt compassion whenever that 
section of the world was doomed to disaster, and added that 
the Roman Senate, convinced of the truth of this theory, sent 
presents both times to the shrine. Among the prodigies listed 
in the consulship of L. Marcius Philippus and Sex. Iulius 
Caesar (91 B. C.) appears that of the sweating image, and fi- 
nally there is an allusion by Cicero to the same phenomenon 
withou: any circumstances for fixing the date (2). 

The references in literature are unanimous in indicating 
an elevated site for the temple, and in some cases connect it 
with the Acropolis. Servius noted as singular the location of a 
temple of Apollo in that situation on the ground that the cita- 



(1) Flar. I, 23; 3: Ad hoc caelestes minae territabant, cum umore continuo 
Apollo sudaret. Liv. XLIII, 13, 5: Cumis in arce Apollo triduum ac ties noctis 

lacrimauit. Aug. civ. Ill, 11: Neque errim aliunde Apollo ille Cumanus, cum 
aduersus Achaeos regemque Aristonicum bellaretur, quadriduo fleuisse nun- 
tiatus est ; quo prodigio haruspices territi cum id simulacrum in mare putair.s3ent 
esse proiciendum, Cumani senes intercesserunt atque rettulerunt tale prodigium 

et Antiochi et Persis bello in eodem apparuisse figmento et quia Romanis feli- 
citer prouenisset, ex senatus consulto eidem Apollini suo dona esse missa testati 
sunt. Tunc uelut peritiores acciti haruspices responderunt simulacri Apollinis 
fletum ideo prosperum esse Romanis, quoniam Cumana colonia Graeca esset, 
suisque terris, unde accitus esset, *d est ipsi Graeciae, luctum et cladem Apol- 

linem significasse ploiantem. Deinde mox regem Aristonicum uictum et captum 
esse nuntiatum est, quern uinci utique Apollo nolebat et dolebat et hoc sui 
lapidis etiam lacrimls indicabat. 

(2) Obseq. 54 (114). Cumis in arce Apollinis simulacrum sudauit. Cic. 
div. I, 43: Quid? cum Cumis Apollo sudauit. 

-53 - 



del was ordinarily consecrated to Jupiter (I). But when an 
interest developed in the remains of classical antiquity after 
the Renaissance, common opinion located this sanctuary on the 
shore of Lake Avernus, where extensive ruins existed, identi- 
fied later as a bathing establishment (2). Another view, expres- 
sed in the eighteenth century work of Paoli, placed it on the 
heights of Monte Grillo east of the city, identifying it with the 
ruins called Arco Felice (3). Actually the temple stood upon 
the eastern portion of the Acropolis, where remains of substruc- 
tures and steps with fragments of columns, capitals and slabs 
still appear on the site; they indicate the previous existence of 
an edifice of generous proportions and sumptuous character, 
thus agreeing fully with the literary allusions of the authors 
already cited (4). The temple contained an unusually large 
cult statue, it was an impressive sight to the besieging army of 
Hannibal, and it is called by Vergil aurea and immanis (5). 
This spot was definitely identified as the site of Apollo's wor- 
ship by an altar found among the ruins, which contains a ded- 
ication to the Cumean Apollo by Q. Tineius Rufus (6). A 
fragmentary inscription on the base of a statue, the work of 
Isidorus of Paros, was believed by Garrucci to belong to a 
similar dedication; but the small amount of the original that 
has been preserved does not permit the matter to be definitely 
determined (7). 

The cult name of the god seems to have been simply 
Apollo Cumanus. The Scholiasta uetus and Tzetzes, comment- 
ing on Lycophron's phrase Zoor/jpioo tXixdq applied to the town 

(1) Serv. Aen. VI, 9: Cum ubiique arx Icui detur, apud Cumas ih arce 
Apollinis tempi urn est. 

(2) De Iorio, Guida 99: Paoli, Antiquitatum reliquiae PI. XLIII. 

(3) Paoli, op. cit. fol. 29. Heyne comments on this and other theories about 
the temple's location in his edition of Vergil II, excursus III, 789. 

(4) De Iorio even thought that there were two temples of Apollo, one 
for a Greek and another for a Roman cult of the god. The first he located 

on the western part of the Acropolis in connection with ruins alluded to in 
the preceding section (p. 49); the second he identified with the actual site. 
Guida 115. Cp. Loffredo, he antichita di Pozzuolo 35. 

(5) Verg. Aen VI, 13; 19. 

(6) C. /. L. X, 3683, Apollini Cumano Q. Tineius Rufus. 

(7) /. G. XIV, 861 = C. /. G. 5858 and add. p, 1259. ['ArcoXXom KojaaCq> 
AsxfiogElogllaxCoo, Totda>pO£ Noojj, [...Iletptos srcoiei. Garrucci Bull. Inst. 1861, 11. 

- 54 - 



of Cumae, thought that the local divinity was designated with 
the epithet Zosterius, and Bouche-Leclercq, following them, 
recognizes this word as a real attribute of Apollo at Cumae (1). 
But this title, used in Attica and perhaps elsewhere in confor- 
mity with the version of the god's birth at Cape Zoster, is not 
one which has any significance at Cumae; it is not, therefore, 
likely that the expression of the erudite Alexandrian was in- 
tended so much to be an accurate designation of the particular 
form of Apolline religion current here as a learned literary 
allusion adopted in keeping with author's notorious striving 
for novelty of expression. 

In addition to his function, already noted, as a patron of 
colonization Apollo was doubtless worshipped as Paean, the 
healer and reconciler of physical and spiritual ills. This is ren- 
dered plausible by the fact that at Rome, where the influence 
of Cumae was predominant in introducing the cult, this aspect 
of his character was strongly marked (2). Furthermore on the 
neighboring island of Pithecussae (Ischia) he was particularly 
revered as a great physician (3). But his role as a mantic divi- 
nity gained for him his greatest celebrity; as the god of pro- 
phecy he inspired his priestess the Sibyl, whose utterances 
attained a more than local renown and thereby promoted the 
popularity of his worship. 

Vergil, relating a tradition that has been traced back to 
Timaeus, represents Aeneas as receiving prophetic guidance 
from the Sibyl of Cumae, who at that early period is supposed 
to be associated with the cult of Apollo (4). This conception 
is historically correct only in the sense that there was localized 
in this region at a remote time a mantic shrine tended by a 
prophetess who delivered the oracles. Its antiquity was reflected 
in the popular belief which represented the Cumean Sibyl as 
extremely old. Although too much attention can not be given 

(1) Schol. uetus ad LicopK. 1278. Zox^yjpiov ercdwofiov 'Atc6XXo>vo£, (^tqoCv 
odv oxt £vtau0a Siyjyev fj SipoXXa.Tzetzes, ibid.; Bouche-Leclercq , Hist de la div. 
II, 185, Hild, Sibyllae, D.-S. IV, 1292. 

(2) Preller-Jordan, I, 147; 302; Wissowa, 294; Aust, Relig. d. Romer 50, 

(3) See p. 220. 

(4) Verg. A en. VI, 12: Delius inspirat uates; VI, 347; Neque te Phoebi 
cortina fefellit. The meeting of Aeneas and the Sibyl was often related. Cp. 
Worner, Aineias Roscher I, 174. 

- 55 - 



to this point because in general the Sibyls were credited with 
length of years, yet this peculiarity belonged in a high degree 
to the one whose seat was in this town (1). On the other hand 
the prophetess did not at first receive her inspiration from 
Apollo, but was connected with the worship of a chthonic deity 
long before the arrival of the great deity of the Greeks (2). As 
at Delphi the worship of Apollo was superimposed upon that 
of an older deity, whose influence gradually faded away, so 
here, although it did not precisely usurp the ancient seat of 
prophecy, it succeeded in ousting the other cult and appro- 
priated the priestess along with the mantic functions of the older 
deity (3). 

The Greek cult of the Sibyl as distinguished from the old 
native oracle was introduced, as indicated in the preceding 
chapter, by the early colonists, perhaps especially by those from 
Cyme, and was thus ultimately derived from Erythrae and the 
Troad (4). Allusions to her activity in her new home are to be 
explained as references to the assembling of oracles, which 
were afterwards handed out to inquirers as her responses. The 
presence of these prophecies here as elsewhere was considered 
as the result of a wandering of the Sibyl, and her association 
with Apollo formed a fruitful subject for myth making (5). 

(1) Buchholz, Sibylla Roscher IV, 796; Bouche-Leclercq Hist, de la divin. 
186, who gives ancient references for the antiquity of the Sibyl; Rohde, Psyche 
II , 67 ; The general belief ascribed to the Sibyl a life of a thousand years 

and the expression Cumaeae saecula vatis attained the force of a proverb. 
Phlegon, Macrobii 4: Ps. Arist. de mirab. auscult. 95; Ov. met. XIV, 134 f. 

(2) The older Roman poets and annalists who mentioned a Cimmerian 
Sibyl did not attempt to distinguish this from the Cumean. Cp. Lact. inst. I, 6, 
9 (dependent on Varro); Aur. Vict. orig. 10; Bou :he-Leclercq , Hist, de la divin. 

II, 188. Hild. Sibyllae D.-S. IV, 1292. Varro because of the chronological diffi- 
culty in making Aeneas associate with the Sibyl, who was reported to have 

bargained with King Tarquin, supposed that there were two Sibyls, - a view 
which must be adjudged correct so far as : t stands for two periods of prophecy. 
Serv. Aen. VI, 36, 72. 

(3) Gabrici, Cuma in Boll d'arte IV (1910) 114; Buchholz, Roscher IV, 
799; Worner, Die Sage Von der Wanderung des Aeneas 21. 

(4) Haight, f Am. Jour. Phil XXXIX (1918) 342 f . ; Schultess, Die SibyU 
linischen Biicher in Rom. 8 f. ; Blass, Die sibyllinischen-orakel in Kautzsch, 
Die Apo\ryphen und Pseudepigraphen des alten Testaments II, 178. 

(5) Buchholz, Roscher IV, 794. Serv. Aen. VI, 321: Sibyllam Apollo pio 
amore dilexit et ei obtulit poscendi quod uellet arbitrium. Ilia hausit harenam 
manibus et tarn longam uitam proposuit. Cui Apollo respondit id posse fieri, si 
Erythraeam, in qua habitabat, insulam relinqueret et earn numquam uideret. 
Profecta igitur Cumas tenuit et illic defecta corporis uiribus uitam in sola uoce 

- 56 - 



On the one hand this cult tended to remain substantially the 
same as that at Erythrae. The seer ess here bore the same name 
as the Oriental Sibyls, Herophile, and Timaeus recognized 
their identity (1). But on the other hand there was a noticeable 
movement toward making her independent of outside influen- 
ces, and a strong local tradition had its exponents in men like 
the historian Hyperochus. These gave her a distinct name and 
sought to attach her strongly to their own locality (2). This 
Sibyl, however, did not attain a commanding reputation for 
some time, and is not mentioned in extant literature before 
Timaeus (3). 

She gave her prophecies in a cavern, which has been iden- 
tified with a grotto in the south eastern side of the Acropolis 
and hence adjacent to the temple on the rock above. This 
grotto now exibits the form of a tunnel ascending by a series 
of steps for a considerable distance, and is connected with a 
number of passages that honeycomb the cliff. This is doubtless 
the original of the huge cavern hollowed out of the Euboean 
rock with its hundred mouths, which Vergil had in mind in the 
composition of the Aeneid* and to which Statius alludes as the 

retinuit. Quod cum ciues eius cognouissent, siue inuidia, siue miser icordia com- 
moti, ei epistulam miserunt creta antiquo more signatum ; qua uisa, quia erat de 
eius insula, in mortem soluta est. Unde non nulli hanc esse dicunt, quae Re- 
mania ffcita consenpsit, quod incenso Apollinis tempi© inde Romam adlati sunt 
libri, vnde haec fuerat. 

(1) Ps. Arist. de mir. ausc. 95:'Ev i% KujAig t?j rcspi tvjv 'IxaXiav SebtvuxaC 
Tig, d)£ iotxs, 6ocXa|iog xaTrfyetoG SiPuXXyjs t% XPW°*°Y 01> > ^ v TCoXoxpovtarcd'nqv 
YSVO|xsvyjv TC<xpG£vov 8tau.eCva£ ^aatv, ouaav jiev 'Epo9pa£av, bno xtvwv 5s tyjv TcaXCav 
xaxotxouvTcav Kup,a£av, utcoSs ttvaw MeXocyxpaipav xaXoouivYjv.Cp. Mart. Cap. II, 
159. 

(2) Paus. X, 12, 8. The name Herophile belonged earlier still to the 
Sibyl of Marpessus. Buchholz, Roscher IV, 796. The name! Amathea was derived 
also from this source. Gruppe, 342. Other names borne by thai Cumean Sibyl were 
Demophile, Deiphobe, and Taraxandra. Verg. A en. VI 36; Lact. Inst. I, 6; 
Scholiast on Plat. Phaedrus 244B; Ps. Arist. de mir. ausc. 95. Cp. Haight, i4m. 

Jour Phil XXXIX (1918) 343; Bouche-Leclercq, Hist, de la divin. II, 184-186; 

Buohholz, RoscheUV, 800; Hoffmann, Rh. Mus. L (1895) 90; Maass, de Sibyl 
larum indicibus 33. Maass discusses the combination of seeresses which went 
to make up the Vergilian Deiphobe. Commentatio mythografa in Index scho- 
larum Gryphiswald 1886-7 part 3. (Known to me only through the summary 
contained in Bursians Jahresbericht LXV1 (1891) 247). 

(3) Prelier-Robert, 282; Hild Sibyllae D.-S. IV, 1292. 

- 57 - 



opaca Sibyllae antra (!). Within the cavern was the [lavtstov, 
where the seeress was constrained to submit to the powerful 
will of Apollo, and so became inspired with a prophetic 
frenzy (2). 

Her responses were not so much predictions referring to 
the future as directions for meeting present emergencies (3). 
According to tradition they were given in olden times in the 
form of lots written upon palm leaves ; such was the testimony 
of Varro, whom Vergil probably followed in his account of the 
oracle. Whether this account is pure fiction or whether at some 
time this expedient was devised in order to make the oracles 
seem old and venerable is uncertain, but the latter alternative 
is probable. Diels suspects that Vergil actually saw such oracles 
as the basis for his account (4). When not mere stereotyped 
marks, they were written regularly in poetical form and in the 
Greek tongue; the circumstance that the meter was often im- 
perfect was explained by the supposition that the attending 
priests who copied the oracles were not always persons of 
much education (5). In historical times no set of oracles pur- 

(1) Verg. Aen. VI, 42-44: 

Excisum Euboicae Iatus ingens rupis in antrum, 

quo lati ducunt aditus centum, ostia centum, 

uncle ruunt totidem uoces, responsa Sibyllae. 
Stat. silv. V, 3, 172: 

Sic ad Auernales scopulos et opaca Sibyllae 

antra rogaturae ueniebant undique gentes. 
Cp. Ov. met. XIV, 104; Stat. silv. Ill, 5, IV, 97; IV, 3, 24; Sol. 2, 17; 
Schultess, Die sib, Biicher in Rom 7; Cocchia, La geografia nelle metamorfosi 
d'Ovidio e VAverno vergiliana in Aiti Nap. XVIII (1896-7) part. 1 ; No. 7, 35, = 
Saggi philologici, III, 16; Hild, D.-S. IV, 1293. 

(2) For references to the inspiration of the Sibyl in general see Rohde, 
Psyche II , 68 . 

(3) Plin. not. XI, 105; Hoffmann, Die tarquinischen Sihyllen-Biicher 
in Rh. Mus. L (1895) 92. 

(4) Serv. Aen. Ill, 444. Cp. also ifcicf. VI, 74, Diels, Sibyllinische 
Blatter 56; Buchholz, Roscher IV, 800. 

(5) Pseudo-Justin (Apollinaris) Cohort, ad Graecos XXXVII : l^aaxov Y.cd 
touto 6-ct ot sttXap^avovTsgTOUsXP 7 ] ! 110 ^ TTjvixaum sxxdg TOudsucscog 5vxs£ TZoXkayioi) 
i^c, tcov fisxpoov obtpi[3stas SiYJfiapTov, xal xauxvjv sXsyov alxiav slvai ttj£ sv£cov 
stcwv &|xsxpia£, T7j$ (xsv xP'^W^SoS 8i& to TtsrcaOaGat, tyjs r /.OLzoyr\^ ual srajtvoCas jjiyj 
{ie[iV7]ii£VY]s xd)v spp7jjisva)v, xtov §£ OTCoypacpswv 81 dcTcaiSsuaCav tyjs xc5v ptsTpcov aupi- 
psCas sxusTCTWKOTtov. Hoffmann, Rh. Mus. (1895) 109; Buchholz, Roscher IV 804, 

- 58 - 



porting to come from the local Sibyl was in circulation. This 
seemed to observers a strange state of affairs, for as Varro 
affirms, collections of all the other Sibyls of renown were ac- 
cessible (1). 

When the oracle became silent is unknown (2). Its fame 
continued in later times, and the Sibyl's abode was pointed 
out to visitors as the chief object of interest in the declining 
town. In the temple of Apollo a vessel of bronze was exibited, 
or according to another account a stone urn, in which the re- 
mains of the Sibyl were supposed to be preserved (3). Likewise 
a perverted version of the affair, due to a belief in her extreme 
age, got into circulation in some quarters, and it was fancied 
that she herself was confined in a jar. Thus one of the charac- 
ters of Petronius declared that he had himself seen her in this 
condition longing to die (4). 

In the fourth century A. D., when the so-called Sibylline 
oracles had been accepted by the church, and were therefore 
of interest to all classes, a Christian writer, who has been iden- 
tified as Apollinarius of Laodicea, composed a description of 
the seat of the oracle, based ostensibly on actual observation. 
Though it had long ceased its activity, local guides described 
with pride its ancient glories as they had received the account 



(1) Lact. inst. I, 6, 13: Harum omnium Sibyllarum carmina et feruntur et 
habentur praeterquam Cymaeae, Paus. X, 12, 8: tyjv Se £%l xauT'fl xP^f 10 ^? 
xata tauxa eErcooaav £x Ku|iY)£ tyjs sv 'OTtixotc; slvat, xaXetaGai 5s aOxrjv Airjjxtb 
aovsypa^sv Trcspoxos &V7jp Kojiatog. xpTQ ^^ $& oi Kujxatot, Tyjg yuvaixos xa6TY]£ 
&$ ouSsva slxov smSe£gaaGat, X£Goo ok 65p£av sv 'A7cdXXet)V0£ tsp$ Ssixvuooaw 
ou \xsyd\f}V } tyjc; SipoXXyjs sYcaOGa xstaGai cpocfievot xdc oozoC. Schwegler, Rom. 

Gesch, I, 802. 

(2) It seems to have ceased operations before the time of Pausanias 
in the second century A. D. Paus. loc. cit. ; Buchholz, Roscher IV, 800. 

(3) Pseudo-Justin, loc. cit. 

(4) Petron. 48: Nam Sibyllam quidem ego ipse oculis meis uidi in 
ampulla pendens, et cum illi pueri dicerent, SipuXXa, x( GeXsic;, respondebat ilia : 
drcoGavsiv GsXa>. Cp. Ampel, Liber memorialis VIII, 16; Fraser, Paus, V. 292; 

Bauche-Leclercq, Hist, de la Dh. 184 ; BUss, Die sibyl, orakjel in Kautzsch, 
Die Apok u. Pseudepigr. d. alt. Test. II, 178. Another tradition represented 
the Sibyl's grave as in Sicily. Sol. 2, 17; 5, 7. Cp. Sciava, La mortc della 
Sibilla in i4tene e Roma XX (1917) 38 f. 

- 59 - 



from their fathers (1). It is noteworthy that the grotto of the 
Sibyl was no longer pointed put as her abode, but instead she 
was assigned to a paaiXtxi) ^s^tatYj, probably the temple of 
Apollo himself or some adjunct to it (2). This illustrates a 
tendency of the prophetess to become more and more closely 
associated with Apollo. The original exponent of prophecy in 
this locality had been free from his influence. But with the 
advent of the Apollo cult the Sibyl moved to the cave at the 
foot of the rock upon which his temple stood; later, when the 
oracle was closed and what purported to be her remains was 
preserved in that sanctuary, it came about in the course of time 
that the same place was considered to be the seat of her oracle. 
Details of the building and furniture such as the bath and 
official chair were exibited to Apollinarius as serving the needs 
of the prophetess (3). 

The last description of the cave was made by Agathias, 
the Byzantine historian, in the sixth century, while he was 
describing the campaign of Narses against the Goths in south 
Italy. Cumae by means of its citadel held out against the ar- 
mies of Justinian, and in the year 552 Narses tried to effect an 
entrance by digging from the Sibyl's grotto to the rock above, 
an undertaking which failed to effect its purpose (4). 

It is not impossible that the female head which appears 
regularly upon the money of Cumae was intended to represent 
the Sibyl. It was not the Siren Parthenope, who had no cult 
here, but it may have been a likeness of a Tyche divinity (5). 



(1) Maass, De Sibyllamm indicibus II, saw in this account a contradic- 
tion of the statements of Varro and Pausanias about the lack of oracles in 
circulation from the Cumean Sibyl. But as pointed out by Diels, Sibyl. Bldt. 
57, the informants of Pseudo-Justin were only repeating tradition delivered 
by their ancestors rather than making reference to their own times. A 
commentary on the passage of Pseudo- Justin is given by A. Chiappelli, 
Vantro della Sibilla a Cuma in Atti delta r. accad. di scienze tnorali e polit. 
di Napoli. XXXI (1900) 557. Cp. Hild, D. S. IV, 1293. 

(2) Pseudo-Justin, he. cit. Cp. Buchholz, Roscher IV, 801. 

(3) Pseudo-Justin, loc. cit. 

(4) Agathias, Historiae I, 10; Cocchia, Atti Nap. XVIII (1896) part 
I, No. 7, 37. 

(5) Head, Hist. num. 37 ; Poole, Cat. Cr. Coins in Brit. Mus. 87: Babelon, 
Traite des monnaies grecqvtes et romaines, part. 2, I, 1438. See p. 73. 

-60 - 



In connection with the worship of Apollo must be men- 
tioned the association of Apollinares about whom little is 
known. Occuring at several other Italian towns, they are men- 
tioned most frequently in inscriptions from Mutina, where ap- 
parently they took the place of the seuiri Augustales. Whether 
they were connected at Cumae with the worship of the Emper- 
ors remains undetermined, as the only evidence for their 
presence is a brief dedication by C. Pomponius Zoticus, which 
was inscribed upon a vase (J). 

Gruppe suggests the possibility of the existence of a cult 
of the Muses, which, if it really was present, was probably 
closely associated with the worship of Apollo; the evidence at 
hand, however, does not permit the fact to be definitely estab- 
lished (2). Just as the Thespiadai, the sons of Hercules and of 
the daughters of Thespius, were reported to have established 
at Croton the cult of the Muses, so the circumstance that they 
are said to have come also to Cumae lends weight to the suppo- 
sition that they introduced the same cult here (3). Furthermore, 
since the Cumeans were apparently hostile to the worship of 
the Sirens and changed to Neapolis the name of the town Par- 
thenope, which they had conquered, it is natural to infer that 
they were devoted to the rivals of these creatures (4). 

ARTEMIS 

A cult of Artemis is rendered practically certain by the 
fact that she was a leading divinity of Euboea and of the cities 
Chalcis and Eretria whose ideas in religion affected so largely 
the early colony at Cumae. Likewise in the latter's colony 

(1) C. /. L. X, 3684 = V, 2143: C. Pomponius Zoticus coilegio ApoIIi- 
nario d. d. A list of the appearances of this collegium is found in Ruggiero 

I, 514, Cp. Aust. 'Apollinares P. - W. I, 2842; Walzing, &tude historique stir 
les corporations professionelles chez les Romains I, 38. 

(2) Gruppe, Berl Phil Wochens. XXI (1911) 1000-1001. 

(3) Diod. V, 15. For the cult at Croton see Iamblichus, de uita Pytha- 
gorica 45, 50, 264. According to Geffcken, Timaios' Geographic des West- 
ens 81, the assignment of a cult of the Muses to Croton may be erroneous. 

(4) For the rivalry between Muses and Sirens see Bie, Musen, Roscher 

II, 3242; De Petra, he Sirene del mar tirreno in Atti Nap. XXV (1908) 12. 
There is no reason for th'nking w*th Eckhel, Doctrina numorum veterum I, 

111, that the head of the nymph on coins of Cumae represents Parthenope. 

- 61 - 



Neapolis Artemis was used as a device upon a series of bronze 
coins (1). It should be noted, however, that these do not 
belong to the earliest period of the city and do not necessarily 
show Cumean influence. At this point the references to Trivia 
in the Aeneid come to mind and suggest themselves as clear 
evidence for the presence of an Artemis cult. So Roscher, re- 
plying to the declaration of Boll that there is a total lack of 
evidence for this goddess, cited these passages (2). The Sibyl 
is called by the poet the priestess of Apollo and Trivia, a term 
which forms one of the well known names for Diana and it is 
not improbable that this goddess received honors in the temple 
of her brother as at Pompeii (3). Hence the poet without too 
great a stress on literal accuracy might well speak of the Sibyl 
as devoted to the service of both divinities. But it is more likely 
that the goddess mentioned here should be identified with the 
primitive deity of Lake Avernus alluded to above, whom the 
Sibyl served in ancient times. As a goddess of the dead she was 
identified by the Greeks with Persephone and had likewise a 
great similarity to Trivia-Hecate-Diana for whom she could be 
substituted without undue effort (4). The substitution was the 
more natural in this case, because in myth and elsewhere in 
worship, Artemis was associated with her brother. Vergil was 
also influenced by the worship of the two deities at Rome and 
his desire appropriately to allude to the construction of their 
temple by Augustus a little farther along in the poem, where 
Servius accuses him of confounding history (5). That we are 
not dealing with a regular Artemis cult so much as with that 
of the primitive chthonic goddess appears in the words of Ae- 
neas directed to the Sibyl (6), that Hecate had placed her with 

(1) Von Duhn, Der Dios\ureniempel in Nectpel 14, See p. 202. 

(2) F. Boll, Marica in 'Archio fur Religionstoiss. XIII (1910) 572; 
Roscher, Der Artemiskult von Cumae in Philologus XXV (1912) 308. 

(3) A en. VI 35: Phoebi Triuiaeque sacerdos. See p. 229. 

(4) For Vergil's relation to the blending of Hecate and Artemis see 
Steuding, Hekfite Roscher I, 1896; cp. 1895. 

(5) Verg. ,4 en. VI 69: 

Turn Phoebo et Triuiae solido de marmore templum 
instituam festosque dies de nomine Phoebi. 
Cp. the comment of Servius on these lines. 

(6) Verg. Aen. VI 118. 

-62 - 



good reason in charge of the groves of Avernus. Here Hecate 
is a convenient term to adopt for this ancient deity, who is 
invoked at the beginning of the descent (I). She is not essen- 
tially different from the Proserpina mentioned a few lines later, 
though the poet with his characteristic fullness of detail and 
tendency toward repetition has assigned to each a separate 
sacrifice. In regard to the mention of the grove of Trivia at the 
beginning of the book, he seems to have joined arbitrarily the 
temple on the Acropolis and the grove at Avernus, transferring 
the chthonic deity for the moment to the woods which perhaps 
surrounded Apollo's temple (2). 

The poetical and obviously inexact account of Aeneas's ad- 
ventures does not prove the existence of a cult of Artemis here ; 
at the same time the poet would have hesitated to assume such 
a form of religion, if it were altogether unknown. Its presence 
is indeed directly affirmed in a marginal note discovered by 
Boll in manuscripts of Augustine's De Ciuitate Dei (3). The 
substance of the comment is the arrival at Minturnae of a cult 
statue of Diana stolen from Cumae, which the people retained 
and called Marica (4). This somewhat fanciful legend doubt- 
less indicates that the goddess Marica was an imported deity 
related to Diana, and thus demonstrates that at Cumae there 
really existed a cult statue and temple of the latter, in short a 
complete apparatus for her worship. It only remains to consider 
whether the scholion is worthy of credence, and on this point 
the answer has been affirmative, as there is no reason fcr 
doubting it comes from an ancient source (5). 

(1) Verg. T Aen. VI, 247: Voce uocans Hecaten caeloque Ereboque 
potentem. Serv. A en. IV, 511: Quidam Hekaten dictam esse tradunt quod 
eadem et Diana sit et Proserpina. Heckenbach, Heforfe P.-W. VII, 2773. 

(2) The topographical indications at the beginning of the sixth book 
are confused and the movements of Aeneas impossible in the strict order 
of the text. Cp. Cocchia, L'Averno virgiliano in A tti Nap. XVIII (1896-7) 
part 1, No. 7, 35 f. ; Saggi Filologici III, 251 f. 

(3) Maricam deam Dianam dicit. Minturnenses enim Cumanis subrep- 
tum sigillum Dianae sibique datum, quoniam mari uenerat, Maricam uoca- 
uerunt Dianam, sicut etiam eadem uocitatur Fascilina eo quod intra ligni 
fascem sit occultata, Boll. Marica in Archiv. ftir Religionsw. XIII (1910) 
567-577. 

(4) This account should be compared with that of Orestes and the 
Diana image at Lake Nemi. Cp. R. Peter, Marica Roscher II, 2373. 

(5) Traube thought that it was derived from Festus ; Wissowa, from 
la Vergilian commentary. Boll, Archiv. /. Religionsw. XIII (1910) p. 576. 

-63 - 



DEMETER 

Another ancient cult of great importance was that of De- 
meter, one of the so called dii patrii, who came to Italy with 
the Chalcidians. One of the traditions of the settlement affirm- 
ed that the colonists had been miraculously guided at night 
by the sound of clashing bronze such as was heard in the ritual 
of this goddess (1). She was accordingly worshipped in this 
district by the celebration of mysteries, but as a mystery deity 
was less important than Dionysus. Probably the two cults flour- 
ished side by side on intimate terms with each other and were 
maintained in large part by the same body of interested wor- 
shippers (2). From its seat in the vicinity of the Cumean rock 
the worship was planted at Neapolis, and extended into the 
interior of the peninsula as well as north and south along the 
coast. The cult seems to have had a close relation with that of 
Apollo, for the specific name of his seeress was Demophile and 
the history of both the oracles and the Demeter worship, when 
transplanted to Rome, shows an intimate association between 
them (3) . Cora-Proserpina, who must have had a place in the 
mysteries, was located more particularly around Lake Avernus. 

The goddess presumably bore here as at Neapolis the title 
of Thesmophoros. Her priesthood, carried on by women, was 
considered at least in the early times as the highest honor that 
could be attained. This estimation is proved both by the respect 
in which the office was held elsewhere in Campania and by a 
story related by Plutarch. Xenocrite, a concubine of the tyrant 
Aristodemus, was largely instrumental in arousing the members 
of the aristocracy to effect his overthrow. As a result, after the 
city came into their power, they offered her presents and honors 

(I) Veil. I, 4, I : Huius classis cursum esse directum alii columbae 
antecedents uolatu ferunt, alii nocturno aeris sono qualis Cerealibus sacris 
cieri solet. 

Stat. silo. IV, 8, 50. 

Tuque, Actaea Ceres, cursu cui semper anhelo 
uotiuam taciti quassamus lampada mystae. 
(2) F. Lenormant, Ceres D. S. I, 1032; Comparetti, Iscrizione arcaica 
carnana in Ausonia I (1906) 18. 

(3) Diels, Sibyllinische Blatter 53; Soil, Demo Roscher I, 986; Jessen, 
Demo P.-W. IV, 2862; Maass, Mythische Kurznamcn in Hermes XXIII (1888) 
614; Suidas, ATjfitf). 

64 - 



of many kinds, but she rejected all except the privilege of serv- 
ing Demeter as priestess (1). 

The site of the temple was probably discovered during the 
course of excavation begun in 1852 among the remains of the 
so - called Tempio dei Ciganti, where a temple of Jupiter has 
sometimes been located (2). It thus stood in the valley east of 
the Acropolis and outside the walls, corresponding to the prin- 
ciple enunciated by ViLuvius for the location of shrines of this 
cult (3). Among the remains appeared bits of marble, which 
contained fragments of inscriptions mentioning the Luccei, a 
family named elsewhere on account of a restoration of Deme- 
ter's temple. The most complete reference to their work states 
that Cn. Lucceius pater and Cn. Lucceius filius, while filling the 
office of praetor, restored the worship of Demeter and that the 
two married daughters of the elder Lucceius, Polla and Ter- 
tulla, replaced the building along with its portico and other 
appurtenances. In other words the magistrates used their offi- 
cial position formally to renew the cult after the women had 
supplied the material assistance (4). A fragment, which seems 
to allude to the construction of a fountain under the same cir- 
cumstances, probably has reference to this shrine, and four 
others make mention of benefactions on the part of Polla and 
Tertulla (5). Although the first of these inscriptions is reported 
to have been found at Puteoli and the origin of the second has 

(I) Plut. Mulierum virtutes 262 D: Ttp,<Sv bi xal dtopsfiW tisy&XtdV %% 
EevoxpCxig TCpoTswop,sva>v idaaaa Tcdoag §v ^T^aaxo, GoE^at ib aa^a zoo 'Aptoto- 
5^p.ou. xai tout* ouv ISoaav aOx^j xat A^|iYjxpo^ Upeiav aOxY]v ©t'Xovxo, oOx fyrcov 
o16\xbvoi r# 0sq> xsxaptapivyjv $) rcpsirooaav ixefvig ufJtYjv iasoGat. 

(2) Comparetti, Ausonia I (1906) 18; Beloch, 165-166; Gabrici, Cuma 
in Man. ant. XXII (1913) 17. 

(3) The excavations are discussed in Bull. Nap. n. s. I (1853) 105 etc. 
Cp. Vitruv. I, 7. 

(4) C. /. L. X, 3685 = D. 4040 = V. 1034: Cn. Cn. Luccei... pate]r et filium 
pr(aetores) sacra Deme[tros res]tituerunt. Lucceia Cn. f. Polla Qui.... [et 
Luc]ceia Cn. i. Tertulla P'a Galli aedem Demetros et quae circa [earn aedem 
su]nt et porticus p. s. restituerunt. 

Gervasio, Intorno alia iscrizione puteolana de Luccei in Memorie della 
r. Accad. ercol. VII (1851) 233-265. Incorrectly attributed to Puteoli by Pe- 
stalozza e Chiesa, Ruggiero II, 209. Cp. Dubois, Pouzzoles antique 134 . 

(5) C. 7. L. X, 3686, Cp. Gervasio, op. cit. 237; C. /. L. X, 3687, 
3688, 3689, 3690. 

- 65 



not been traced, yet all appear to belong to Cumae, where 
individuals by the name of Cn. Lucceius are known from other 
sources to have held the office of praetor, a magistracy well 
attested in this town (1). One of this name is mentioned in an 
inscription, which probably belongs to the year 7 A. D. ; this 
establishes the approximate time of tjie restoration of Demeter's 
sanctuary (2). 

CASTOR AND POLLUX 

To the same series of ancient cults represented by Apollo 
and Demeter belongs that of the Dioscuri, who were doubtless 
honored here to the same degree as in the colony of Neapo- 
lis (3). Though no direct information has reached us of their 
functions, yet it is probable that they were regarded particularly 
as the patrons of those citizens who formed the cavalry con- 
tingent and as the protectors of sailors. At least the first phase 
of their activity seems to have been general in southern Italy 
from where it finally reached Rome, and the maritime cult of 
these deities as practiced at Rome and Ostia was probably de- 
rived from Cumae (4). The ruins of a temple on the western 
part of the Acropolis, which have been mentioned in connec- 
tion with Zeus, possibly belonged to the shrine of Castor and 
Pollux; otherwise the location of their temple is wholly un- 
known (5). 

HERA 

Hera's worship is attested by an oracle preserved in the 
writings of Phlegon of Tralles, which Diels prounced a genu- 

(1) Cp. C. /. L. X, 3697 and Mommsen's annotations here and to 
No. 1795; C. /. L. X, 3698 (quoted on p. 88) ; D. 4040 and notes; Miner- 
vini, Bull Nap. n. s. 1 (1853) 106. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 3697. 

(3) Stat. silv. IV, 8, 52: 

Et uos, Tyndaridae quote nan horrenda Lycurgi 
Taygeta umbrosaeque magis coluere Therapnae. 

(4) Albert, Le Culte de Castor et Pollux en Italie 57; Vaglieri, Castores, 
Ruggiero II, 132; Furtwangler, Dios\uren t Roscher I, 1163; Bethe, Dioskuren 
P.-W. V. 1091, 1096. 

(5) Beloch 161. . 

- 66 - 



ine survival from the treasured Sybilline collection of the Rom- 
ans (1). This alludes to the arrival of Greek colonists on the 
Italian peninsula at Cumae from their earlier settlement upon 
the adjacent islands, and contains the injunction that the colo- 
nists shall provide an image and a temple for the worship of 
Hera, « the august Queen » (2). Although the oracle belongs 
to the year 125 B. C. and has especial reference to Rome, the 
mention of the Cumean ritual served to confer upon it a mark 
of authenticity. The cult at Cumae was manifestly very old, 
and was an offshoot of the strong one flourishing in Boeotia and 
Euboea; there is a possibility for its arrived also from some 
locality, such as Cyme, which gave the Sibyl to Italy (3). It 
was likewise important at Rome in the form of a devotion to 
Juno Regina, where it was introduced or at least strengthened 
by the influence of the Sibylline books coming from Cu- 
mae (4). Juno Regina at Rome was closely allied with Apollo, 
as is proved by the expiatory procession of the year 207 B. C. 
recorded by Livy, and it is probable that here too she was on 
friendly terms with him and perhaps shared somewhat in his 
mantic qualities (5). 

A reference to this aspect of the goddess has been seen in 
an ancient inscription upon a bronze disk, the reading and inter- 
pretation of which have caused much difficulty. This inscription, 
which is admitted by nearly all scholars to be genuine, shows 
archaic letter forms and style of writing and is assigned to the 
sixth century B. C. Although its provenience can not be exactly 
determined, it is supposed to have been found during clandes- 
tine excavations in the Cumean necropolis. The published 
readings differ widely from one another in the significance 



(1) Diels I f. ; Blass, Die sibyllinischenora\el in Kautzsch, Die Apo- 
Jyryphen und Pseudepigraphen des alten Testament, II, 178. 

(2) Phlegon, Mirabilia X =* Westermann, Paradoxographi Graeci 135, 
I. 18 = Diels ! 14. Cp. ibid. 98. 

(3) Diels 52 note 1. 

(4) Reitzenstein, Ined. poet. Gr. frag, in Index lectionunt Rostock 
second series 1891-2, 11, 24; Gruppe 367 . Mahir*, Un disco oracolare cumano 
in Ausonia VI (1911) 9. 

(5) Liv. XXVII, 37, 9. 

-67 - 



which they attach to the disk (1). According to the most plau- 
sible interpretation we have here a religious document dealing 
with divination, the sense of which is, « Hera does not permit 
the giving of oracles in the morning (?) » (2) This then would 
be the response given at an oracular shrine to some inquirer to 
whom those in charge for some reason did not wish to return a 
definite answer. If the interpretation given by Maiuri is based 
upon the correct reading of the text, this is the oldest document 
relating to Greek divination, and an early testimony of prophet- 
ic activity at Cumae (3). Nothing else is known about Hera as 
a mantic divinity here, but this aspect of her character is not 
wholly unknown in other places, and in such a locality as this, 
which was essentially an oracular center, it would not be strange 
if another deity should assume the functions of prophecy in 
connection either with the Apollo cult or with that of the oracle 
of the dead at Avernus (4). Maiuri suspects a worship of Hera 
at the latter spot, but the supposition lacks evidence to support 
it (5). The connection of Hera with divination in general is 
shown by the name Herophile applied to the Sibyl of Erythrae 
and sometimes to the seeress of Cumae (6). In conclusion we 
can say that if there is as yet no certain evidence that Hera 
was regarded here as a goddess of prophecy, yet such a suppo- 
sition is quite free from improbability. 

The area of a temple excavated by Prince Emilio de Sayn- 
Wittgenstein about 1859 hag been conjectured to be the site 
of Hera's shrine. A deposit of broken pottery near the remains 
of a Greek wall appears to have been a favissa. Among the 



(1) Soigliano, Di una iscrizione greca arcaica in an disco eneo in Atti 
Nap. n. s. I (1910) 103; Oliverio (who contests its authenticity) Un'epigrafe 
arcaica? m Atene e Roma XIII (1910) 148; Haussoullier, Disques funeraires 
grecs in Rev. de phil. XXXIV (1910) 134; Comparetti, Iscrizione greca ar- 
caica di un dischetto di bronzo in Symbolae litterariae in honorem Iulii De 
Petra 1; Maiuri, Arcana cumana in Ausonia VI (1911) 1. 

(2) Halbherr reads (Maiuri, loc. cit.) "HpY} oux s$ rjpt p,avxsi>sc9ca.. 

(3) Maiuri, Ausonia VI (1911) 11. 

(4) A mantic shrine of Hera Akraia was located near Corinth. Strab. 
380; Xen. Hell IV, 5, 5 ; Liv. XXXII, 23; Bouche-Leclercq , Hist, de la divin. 
II, 395; E. Curtius, Peloponnesus II, 553; Eitrem, Hera, P.-W. VIII, 372. 

(5) Maiuri, A usonia VI (1911) 10. 

(6) Diels 52; Sittig, Herophile, P.-W, VIII, 1103. 

- 68 - 



fragments of pottery found here was one assigned by Minervini 
to a sacred vase, which appears to have contained the mention 
of Hera's name (1). 

HERACLES 

Myths of Heracles, which probably reached Cumae from 
Croton through the medium of the Rhodian settlers at Neapolis, 
were localized in the district of the warm springs adjacent to 
the city (2). The Phlegraean Fields, of evident volcanic origin, 
formed the scene of his combat with the Giants. The name 
Boaulia, current in connection with the neighboring village of 
Bauli, was associated by the etymologists with the sojourn of 
the great hero in these parts and the tarrying of his cattle. Near 
here too he received credit for the construction of a dam in the 
form of the narrow strip of land separating Lake Lucrinus and 
Lake Avernus from the sea (3). 

No actual traces of worship remain, but since his cult at 
Rome was promoted by the Sibylline oracles, we are justified 
in concluding that it was of some importance also in the place 
whence these were derived. Jordan maintains that he was re- 
vered particularly under the aspect of aXe£txaxo<;, — a god 
who protects his devotees and wards off evil (4). Unquestion- 
ably this was a center of Heracles influence (5) De Iorio 
asserts that most of the writers preceding him claimed that a 
Hercules temple had stood at Bacoli, and Mazzella affirmed 

(1) TYJ£ *'HpY)[£ tepdc, ejxu Minervini, Noiizia di alcuni monumenti cu- 
mani in Bull Nap. n. s. VIII (I860) 25; Gabrici, Cuma in Mon. ant. XXII, 
43 . No account giving the location of these ruins seems to have been 
preserved. 

(2) Gruppe, Berl Phil Wochens. XXXI (191 1) 1005 and Gr. Myth. 
367. See pp. 15, 100. 

(3) Dion. Hal. I, 44; Diod. IV, 21, 5 : 6 d' oh e HpaxX% duo too Tt(tepsa>£ 
&va£su£a£, xaT^vxyjaev el$ to KufiaCov rcsSfov. IV, 22, 1:6 d' 'HpaxXfjs ix too 
<£Xey pa£oo mfLou xaxeXGcbv ini tyjv GocXaTiav xaxeaxsuaaev ipya itepl tyjv "Aopvov 

6v0p,a£0|A£VY)V AtylVYJV. 

Cp. Sil. XII, 156; Diod. V, 71, 4-5; Serv. Aen. VII, 662: Postea iuxta 
Baias caulam bubus fecit et earn saepsit ; qui 'ocus Boaulia dictus est, nam 
hodie Bauli uocatur. Symm. epist. I, 1; Prop. Ill, 18, 4; Geffcken, Timaios' 
Geographic des Westens. 

(4) Preller-Jordan II, 280. 

(5) Cesano, Hercules, Ruggiero III, 684; Preller-Jordan, I, 18. 

- 69 - 



that he had seen remains indicating a Doric building. The 
latter, however, neglected to describe clearly its situation, and 
his notice is probably worthless (1). 

DIONYSUS 

The famous mysteries celebrated in honor of Dionysus are 
referred to in an archaic Greek epitaph found near Cumae and 
assigned to the fifth century B. C. It proves the existence of a 
special cemetery, where only initiates could be interred, and 
is by far the earliest testimony for such a burying ground pos- 
sessed by any corporation or religious society (2). Comparetti 
calls attention to the probability that burial here was not a nec- 
essary requirement of the worshippers of Dionysus, but was 
rather designed to meet the needs of the humbler folk, who 
were not provided with family tombs and hence were exposed 
to the danger of having their bodies mingled with the pro- 
fane (3). The word expressing the notion of initiation 
t6v (3e(3a)Q(eof!ivov recalls the expression ta paTt/eofxara used by 
Clement of Alexandria for the ceremony as well as the employ- 
ment of poaxsoTcop for the god (4). It seems to have all the 
force of ps|3a7ma|iivov in Christian thought. This idea of sepa- 
ration for the elect and its consequent indication of a strong 
feeling for ceremonial purity points decisively toward the pre- 
sence of Orphic influence among the devotees of Cumae, — 
a force which was undoubtedly prevalent in the fifth century 
B. C. (5). The worshippers of the god were probably united 
thus early in a thiasus for purposes of worship and mutual as- 
sistance. 

In .contrast to other localities in Campania Cumae made a 
very sparing use upon pottery of features connected with the 

(1) De Iorio, Guida di Pozzuoli, 144: Mazzella, Antichita di Poz- 
zuolo, 140. 

(2) First published by Sogliano in N. S. 1905, 377; later with improved 
reading and interpretation (oo H\xu; svxouGa xstaGat el jjl^ xov (3s(3axxso}A£VOv) 
by Comparetti, Ausonia I (1906) 13 i . ; Haussoullier, Ret), de phft. XXX (1906) 

141 ; Gabr f iai, Mon. ant. XXI, 574. Cp. Rev. de Vhist des religions LIU 
(1906) 424. 

(3) Comparetti, Ausonia I (1906) 17. 

(4) Clem. AI. Cohortatio ad gentes XII = Migne, Patrol gr. VIII 241, 
9; C. /. G. 38; Anthologia Palatina IX, 524, 3. 

(5) Comparetti, Ausonia I (1906) 19. Cp. the Orphic tablets of Sybaris 
and Petelia belonging to a later epoch. 

- 70 - 



myths or cult of Dionysus, but instead preferred subjects 
connected directly with the tomb. Thus Cumae is the only city 
where heroa form the subject of vase paintings. The examples 
of the Dionysiac myths which are occasionally found at a com- 
paratively late period are due to the influence of Paestum (1). 
The cult is mentioned in one inscription which refers to 
a priest of Liber (2). A second inscription, once cited to 
prove the presence of this god has been adjudged spurious by 
Mommsen and Kaibel (3). The possible worship of Dionysus 
by one of the phratries has already been noted. 

DEITIES OF MINOR IMPORTANCE IN THIS LOCALITY. 

Under this heading are collected several divinities, who 
in some cases may have had considerable importance in the 
community but who have left us few traces of their influence. 
To this class belongs Athena, whose presence is attested only 
by her appearance upon coins of the fifth century B. C, upon 
the reverse of which is found the likeness ot a crab and a 
mussel (4). When the legend appears in connection with 
Athena, it should be considered rather as the mere name of 
the town than as a reference to her as its tutelary divinity (5). 

No traces of Aphrodite worship have survived from Cu- 
mae itself. Reitzenstein, however, calls attention to the possi- 
bility of a cult of this goddess under the form Apostrophia 
or one who averts destructive passion. He thinks that the well 
known Boeotian cult centering at Thebes was introduced into 
Italy at this point, whence the goddess passed to Rome through 
Sibylline influence under the title of Venus Verticordia (6). 

(1) Patroni, La ceramica antica nelV Italia meridionale in A Hi Nap. 
XIX (1897-8) 85. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 3705 Verrius M. f ontanus Liberi sacerdos. 

(3) The genuine inscription with this reading belongs to Rome, /. G. 
XIV 975. 

(4) Examples of this money in A. Sambon pp. 165-170; Garrucci 
PI. LXXXIII ; Head 36. Cp. Dressel, Beschr. d. ant. Munzen p. 93 ; Poole, Cat. 
Gr. Coins, Italy, 86. 

(5) Weber, On Some Unpublished or Rare Greek Coins in Nam. 
Chron. XVI (1896) 2. 

(6) Reitzenstein, Ined. poet. Gr. frag. 11. 24, Cp. Farnell II, 665; 

Preller-Jordan II, 446. Dummler, 'Aphrodite, P.-W. I, 2731; Gruppe, 207, 

367 Note 1. 

- 71 - 



The same scholar believed in the presence of a cult of 
Ares derived from Tritaea in Achaia, a town which sent set- 
tlers to Cumae (1). There is nothing improbable in the 
assumption that these people introduced this god, yet there 
is no proof of it. The connection of Mars with the Romulus 
legend is not necessarily due, as Reitzenstein suggested, to 
Cumean influences centering around this cult. It is true that 
the legend at Tritaea, which represents Melanippus as the 
son of Ares and a priestess of Athena offers a close parallel 
to that concerned with the birth of Romulus according to the 
most common version (2). But this form of the myth is prob- 
ably due to literary invention, and the inventor had many 
examples to choose from where heroes sprang from the union 
of a god and a maiden. Mars naturally became the father in 
this case because of his prominence at Rome (3). There is 
thus no evidence for locating at Cumae a cult of Ares. 

It has been assumed with considerable probability, as 
stated in the preceding chapter, that the Romans derived their 
Mercury cult from this place. Unfortunately no remains have 
been found which give any proof of its existence (4). An 
inscription preserved near Baiae at the piscina mirabUis con- 
tains a Latin dedication to Mercury; though included by 
Mommsen among the inscriptions of Puteoli, it may equally 
well be assigned to Cumae (5). 

The worship of the Nymphs is attested by one inscription, 
a dedication inscribed upon a bronze patera, which records a 
vow made by one Zoilus, a son of Agathon (6). The head 
of the nymph on coins, as stated above, has been sometimes 
identified either as the Sibyl or as Parthenope. The former 

(1) Reitzenstein 10; Grape 506; Paus. VII. 22, 8. 

(2) Stoll. Ares, Roscher I, 485 and Melanippos 1), Roscher II, 2577. 

(3) Pais, Stor. crit. J, 289 gives a list of such cases. Cp. Trieber, Die 
^amulassage in Rh. Mus. XLIII (1888) 570; Rosenberg, Rea Silvia, P. W. 
second series I, 342 and Romulus ibid. 1085, who thinks of the myth of 
Tyro, daughter of Salmoneus. 

(4) Preiler -Jordan I, 18. Early antiquarians sometimes indentified a 
ruin near Lake Avernus as a temple of Mercury. Loffredo, Le antichita di 
Pozzuolo 29. See p. 27. 

(5) C. /. L. X, 1590. 

(6) /. G. XVI, 860: ZckXos 'AydGcovos Nojjupocig sOx^v. 

- 72 - 



supposition is possible but the latter has nothing in its favor. 
Eckhel cited the passage of Lycophron about the reception of 
the Siren by the dwellers on the banks of the River Clanius 
as an evidence that she was held in regard at Curnae (1). 
But this passage is a reference rather to Neapolis. The poet 
is seeking to express his idea by circumlocution instead o? by 
direct statement of fact, and can not be depended upon for 
accuracy. Likewise the assertion that the Cumeans took up 
the worship of Parthenope, is applicable only to those who 
went to Neapolis and were engaged in the restoration of that 
town, taking part thereby in a form of worship which had 
hitherto been foreign to them (2). More likely the nymph 
in question represents a personification of the city viewed as 
a Tyche divinity or similar tutelary goddess such as probably 
appears on the money of Terina (3). The legend Cyme upon 
some of the figures gives a name to this vaguely conceived 
personality, who would play somewhat the same role of pro- 
tecting influence which Parthenope manifested at Neapolis. 

A cult of Hephaestus is assigned to this place by Rapp 
on extremely meager evidence, which is confined to the re- 
presentation of the god with other deities upon a piece of 
sculpture offered to the protecting divinities of a Neapolitan 
phratry (4). Since it is not very probable that he was recog- 
nized there as a phratry god, we can by no means draw the 
inference that he was worshipped in* the mother city. 

Among the heroes who received recognition was Daeda- 
lus, whose relics as stated above, were preserved in the temple 
of Apollo. The legend points to Cretan influence, which is 
uncommon in Italy (5). Other cults such as that of Orestes at 
Aricia near Lake Nemi and that of Evander at Rome have 
sometimes been traced back to Cumae, but without real evi- 
dence (6). 

(1) These coins axe shown in A. Sambon 152 Nos. 252 f. Cp. 142; 
Eckhel. Doctrina numorum veterum 1, 111, 113; Garucci 80; Lye Alex. 717. 

(2) Serv. georg. IV, 563, = Lutat. Daphnis, book IV in Peter, Hist. 
Rom. frag. p. 126. 

(3) Poole, Cat. Brit. Mus. Italy 87; Dressel, Beschr. d. ant. Munzen 
III, 89; K. Regling. Terina 62; Babelon, monn. grec. et rom. part 2, I, 1437. 

(4) Rapp, Hephahstcs, Richer I, 2074. 

(5) Gmppe 360; Pais, Stor. d. Sic. I, 163. See p. 50. 

(6) Reitzenstein, Ined. poet. Gr. frag. 10; Preller-Jordan I, 18; II 341. 

- 73 - 



The mussel which forms a distinctive emblem on Cumean 
coins has been explained by Gabrici as due to the influence 
of ancient religious ideas. He regards it as connected with 
some marine deity who was venerated especially by the sea- 
faring people of this coast (1). It is more naturally explain- 
ed, however, as an allusion to an abundant local product and 
is probably not affected by religion (2). 

CULT OF LAKE AVERNUS. 

In the account of the Sibyl who served as the spokesman 
of Apollo it was suggested that this type of prophetess was 
not a novelty introduced by the Greeks, but rather was adapted 
to their cult from the seeress associated with Lake Avernus. 
It now becomes necessary to examine more in detail the reli- 
gious ideas which gathered around this spot. The Jake, no- 
torious for the traditions of ill omen attached to it, lies less 
than a mile east of the ancient city beyond Monte Grillo. It 
was once thought to be an entrance to the infernal regions, 
and as such impressed mightily the imaginations of men, who 
ascribed baneful influences of various kinds to its waters (3). 
Vergil calls it the ianua Ditis. In those days a dense forest 
surrounded it and imparted thereby an atmosphere of gloom 
to a spot which now seems entirely commonplace. Here Ae- 
neas is reported to have sought and by divine intervention to 
have found his golden branch (4). Upon the shore of the 
lake welled up a sacred spring, the water of which because 

(1) Gabrici, Sul valore dei tipi monetali nei problemi siorici, etno- 
grafici e religiosi in Atti del Congr. intern, di scienze storiche 1903, VI, 62 
and Riv. it. di num. XIX (1906) 319. 

(2) G. F. Hill. Handbook of Greek and Roman Coins 173; G. Mac- 
donald, Coin Types 95; O. Keller, Die antike Tierwelt II, 551. 

(3) Its supposed deleterious effect upon birds is often asserted by the 
ancients: Verg. Aen. VI, 201; Sil. XII, 123; Strab. V, 4, 5 ; Pin. nat XXXI, 
21 ; Val. Fi. IV, 493; Claud, rapt. Pros. II, 347; Serv. Aen. Ill, 442; Tzetzes 
on Lye. 704. Its bottomless depth is mentioned by Lye. 704; Diod. IV, 22; 
Pseudo-Arist. de mirab. auscult. 102; Lucan, II, 665; Vib. Seq. Lacus in 
Riese, Geog. Lat. min. p. 153. Cp. Petr. 120. The downward descent is al- 
luded to by Verg. Aen. VI, 126; Serv. Aen. Ill, 386, VI, 237; Ribbeck, Trag. 
Rom. frag. inc. fab. inc. frag. 38. 

(4) Aen. VI, 126, 185 f. Cp. V. 731; VII, 91. 

74 - 



of a supposed connection with the River Styx was left untouch- 
ed (I). The most ancient tradition located in the vicinity 
an oracle of the dead, a genuine vsxoo^avcstov, where responses 
were obtained by the evocation of spirits, a process described 
by Cicero. Servius in his description of it adds that it operated 
only after a death (2). Strabo, who gives an extended ac- 
count of the place, calls it a Plutonium, while in the geograph- 
ical composition circulated under the name of Scymnus of 
Chios, it is designated as a Cerberium (3). The latter name 
gave rise to a theory that this was the place where according 
to legend the dog of Hades was dragged by Hercules to the 
upper world. Ideas of this kind centering around the spot are 
perhaps responsible for the appearance of a likeness of the 
three headed dog on a series of silver didrachmas of the fifth 
century B. C (4). 

This oracle was identified by the ancients as the one at 
which Odysseus consulted the shade of the Theban seer Tir- 
esias in order to obtain helpful information for his journey. 
This was the view of Ephorus who located the Homeric Cim- 
merians in these parts, and the same opinion has also been 
advanced in modern times (5). In the olden days according 
to that historian the oracle was built far below the surface 

(1) Strab. V, 4, 5 (244):§OTt bk tcyjyV) tig autoGt tcotCu-oo 58aTO£ &id %% 
BaXdxxy, toutod 5* anzlxovxo twcvtss t6 tyj; Sxaydg 5S(op vo}i£aavT££. Quaranta, 

Alcuni luoghi di Strabone in Mem. della r. ace. ercol IV, part. 2, 90. 

(2) Cic. Tusc. I, 37 inde ea, quae meus amicus Appius vsxoouavTsCa 

faciebat, inde in uicinia nostra Auerni lacus, 

Uncle animae excitantur obscura umbra opertae ex ostio 
Altae Acheruntis, salso sangu : ne, 
Imagines mortuorum. Diod. IV, 21, I. Serv. Aen. VI, 107. 

(3) Strab. V, 4, 5 : %%{ tooto to x«ptov rcXooTdmdv u OiieXdjijtavov. Scymnus 
239 = MuIIer, Geog. Graec. tnin. I, p. 205: 

ou Ksppeptov ti SshtvoTat 
&7iox66viov jiavTetov. §X9etv <paat bk 
bsupo rcapdt K£poa]£ iitavocyovT* '05uaa£a. 

(4) See Miiller's notes to the above passage. A. Sambon 164 No. 290; 
Gabrici Relazioni artistiche e religiose etc. in Riv. ital. di num. XIX (1906) 
321. 

(5) Horn. Od. XI, 14-17; Sil. XII, 130; Hyg. fab. 125; Maximus Ty- 
rius, diss. XIV, 2 (Hobeins edition VIII, 2); Plin. nat. ill, 61 ; Strab. V, 4, 5, 
Berard, Les PhSniciens et VOdyssSe II, 311, 318. Refuted by Bury, The Ho- 
meric and the Historic Kimmerians in Klio VI (1906) 79. 

- 75 - 



of the earth and was tended by a mysterious race of men who 
lived habitually underground with no glimpse of the sunlight. 
He adds that they made a goodly profit from their oracle, but 
at last were exterminated by a king whom their advice had 
misled. Afterwards oracular revelations were still vouchsafed 
but no longer in the original place (1). This account of the 
oracle's prosperity and its final overthrow, in its original form 
represents no doubt a distorted version of the fact that the 
oracle of the dead, once so important, ceased to function 
after the arrival of Apollo. It is quite improbable as stated 
by Svoronos that sacrifices were still made here to obtain re- 
sponses in the time of Strabo (2). The oracle continued only 
in the sense that there was still a seeress called the Sibyl to 
communicate oracular messages, but this activity was now 
carried on under the inspiration of Apollo; the method of 
revelation was altered, and the seat of prophecy was now in 
the cave of the Acropolis. The old oracle was probably sit- 
uated at the south side or the lake, where a tunnel still enters 
the earth; here Aeneas offered his sacrifices to obtain admis- 
sion to the lower world (3). 

As the oracle at Avernus depended on the spirits of the 
dead, the lake and the surrounding territory were naturally 
considered to lie in the domain of the nether powers, - a sen- 
timent that lingered there long after the disappearance of the 
oracle. According to Silius the spot was religione sacer at the 
epoch of the Punic Wars, and hither Hannibal in 214 B. C. 
during his military operations in Campania led his troops un- 
der the pretext of sacriricmg to the divinities of the lake (4). 

(!) Strab. V, 4, 5. 

(2) Svoronos, Explication de la base de Sorrente in Jour, internals 
d'arch. num. XVI (1914) 190. 

(3) Cocchia, L'Averno virgiliano in Atii Nap. XVIII (1896) part 1, 
No. 7, 39 f. ; Scherillo, DelYaria di Baia a tempo dei Romani 55-59 located the 
entrance of the lower world used by Vergil on the western side of the lake 
on the site of the grotto di Pietro la Pace. 

(4) Liv. XXIV, 12, 4: Inde Numidis Hispanisque ad praesidium simul 
castrorum simul Capuae relictis cum cetero exercitu ad lacum Auerni per 
speoiemi sacirificandi, re ipsa, ut temptaret Puteolos quodque ibi praesidi erat, 
descendit. SL XII, 12, 2: 

Turn tristi nemore atque umbris migrantibus horrens 
et formidatus uolucri letale uomebat 
suffuso uirus caelo Stygiaque per urbes 
relig : one sacer sacrum retinebat honorem. 

- 76 - 



This is probably a reminiscence of the original notion accord- 
ing to which the divinities localized here were vaguely con- 
ceived and not reduced to definite numbers nor supplied with 
definite names. The Greeks finding this condition existent gen- 
erally assigned the place to Persephone (1). Yet such a 
goddess obviously did not become a concrete personality and 
other identifications were suggested from time to time for the 
reigning power, although a feminine deity was regularly 
thought of, She is called sometimes Persephone or Cora, at 
other times Hecate or Juno Averna (2). Vergil, who seems to 
have confused the oracle in the cave of the Acropolis with the 
one at Avernus, apparently has reference to the forests about 
the lake when he speaks of the groves of Trivia (3). Ruins on 
the eastern side of the lake were commonly spoken of as the 
remains of a temple of Apollo. The antiquary Paoli, discern- 
ing the error of this assignment, decided that they were the 
remains of a shrine of Diana-Hecate, which Vergil had in 
mind, but they have since been indentified as a bath. (4). 

The vagueness of the conception attached to the divinity 
of the lake is shown by the fact that still other names appear. 
When M. Agrippa was endeavoring to create a harbor at 
Cumae, he materially changed the original character of the 
lake and its adjoining shores by cutting down the forests, en- 
larging the channel that connected this body of water with 
Lake Lucrinus, and making other improvements. While such 
an enterprise was no longer prevented by religious scruples, 
there must have been a conservative element opposed to such 
a project and disposed to see wonders and signs. Accordingly 
during the time that the workmen were engaged in their task, * 
the image of a deity above the lake was reported to be covered 

(1) Diod. IV, 22, 1 ; Lycoph. 698; Lenormant, Ceres, D.-S. I, 1032 

(2) Ov. met. XIV, 114; Sil. XIII, 601. 

(3) Verg. Aen. VI, 13. The poet connects the Sibyl both with 
Cumae and with Avernus. Cocchia, Atti Nap. XVIII (1896) part. I, No. 7, 36 
thinks of a subterranean connecfon between them so that both were the 
Sibyl's domain. Hiilsen, Avernus lacus, P.-W. II, 2286 and R. Peter, Avernus, 
Roscher I, 740 assert that the Cumean Sibyl had her seat at Avernus. 

(4) Paoli, Antiquitatum reliquiae, Foil. 28. Another ruin on the border # 
of the lake has received without apparent reason the name Tempio di Mer- 
curic*. Beloch, 171 ; Mazzella, Aniichiia di Pozzuolo, 99. 

- 77 - 



with moisture. Dio was inclined to identify this goddess with 
Calypso, although he admitted that the matter was uncer- 
tain (I). But Calypso was a nymph who does not seem to 
have had a cult in any other place, and the image mentioned 
. by Dio Cassius was more likely that of some heroine, as be- 
fitted the chthonic character of the place (2). Another account 
of the same event mentions a sweating image but assigns it, 
as usually interpreted, to an eponymous god Avernus. This 
version is unique in that it deals with a male rather than a 
female divinity, and under the name of Avernus signifies a 
localized Pluto or Dis Pater (3). But probably the word A~ 
uerni in this narration is in the locative case and so does not 
refer directly to the image; hence there is really no variation 
in the accounts and the statue remains nameless (4). At all 
events notice was taken of the omen by the Roman pontifices, 
who ordered adequate reparation to be made to the offended 
chthonic power. 

Although the fear of the gods' vengeance did not prevent 
the desecration of the sacred place, this did not cease to main- 
tain a special character of sanctity down to the very end of 
Paganism. In the Campanian calendar of 389 A. D. discussed 
in chapter I there appears a midsummer festival celebrated 
at this place probably for the commemoration of the dead. 
Its selection for the ceremonies is a token of the tenacity with 
which the notions pertaining originally to the lake still clung 
to it after the lapse of centuries, and shows how difficult it is 
for a place once accounted sacred to lose that characteristic. 

(!) Dio Cass. XLVIII, 50, 4. 

(2) Immisch, Katypso, Roschex, II, 942. 

(3) Serv. georg. II, 162 (based on Agrippa's autobiography). Deinde 
terra effosa inter ipsum Lucrinum et Auernum, contigit ut duo lacus misce- 
rentur, et tanta tempestas orta est, ut prodigii loco habita sit ac nuntiatum 
sit simulacrum Averni sudasse: propter quod pontifices ibi piacularia sacra 
fecerunt. Cp. Peter, Roscher I, 740; Wissowa, Avernus deus, P. - W. II, 2285. 

(4) Cp. however the appearance of the term Genio A uerni in an in- 
scription of Britain C. /. L. VII. 165. The vicinity of Lake Avernus seems 
to have been regarded w'th awe even in the Middle Ages. Here Christ was 
said to have come from Hades with ransomed souls and then to have stop- 
ped up the entrance by placing a mountain where later arose Monte Nuovo. 
Preller, Ueber den Monte Nuovo in Ber. der kgl- sachs. Gesell. der Wiss. 
II (1850) 146; Mazzella, Aniichiih di Pozzuolo 83. 

- 78 - 



The same locality was the scene of the festival marking the 
termination of the vintage, which took place at Lake Acherusia 
every year on the Ides of October (1 ) . 

ROMAN CULTS AND EMPEROR WORSHIP. 

The Latinization of the city of Cumae made considterable 
progress from the time that it came under Roman control and 
as early as 180 B. C. Latin had become the official language. 
In this process the ancient religion must have been vitally 
affected, but no record of this has been left. During the Impe- 
rial period, after the Roman colony had been established, 
there was naturally a closer relation between the religion of 
this community and that of Rome. For the pontiffs, augurs, 
and other municipal priests who must have held office here 
there is a lack of evidence. On the contrary, considerable 
traces remain of that formal religion of the Roman state v/hich 
consisted in the adoration of the Emperor. At the same time, 
often in connection with this cult, there prevailed the worship 
of various abstractions such as Spes and Victoria, which were 
probably all introduced through Roman influence. Then too 
old Roman deities like Vesta, early traces of whom are lacking, 
were now honored just as in Rome. 

This condition of affairs is well illustrated by the remains 
of a list of festivals connected with the worship of Augustus. 
These fragments, containing in a mutilated form references 
to most of the days originally marked for observance, have 
been discovered at various times (2). The list was doubtless 
affixed to the temple of the Emperor and was composed, as 
appears from internal evidence, between the years 4 and 14 
A. D. No more definite data are at hand for fixing the fouiv- 



(1) Sec p. 43. 

(2) The last discovery was made in 1882. N. S. 1882, 239. Revised 
text with Mommsen's supplements in C. 1. L. I , p. 229 ; C. /. L. X, 8375 ; 
D. 108; text with commentary by Mommsen, Ges. Schr. IV, 258-270; De 
Petra, Nuovo frammento del feriale cumano in Atti Nap. XI (1882-83) part 1, 
33 f. with a list of the celebrations 43. Cp. Heinen, Zur Begrundung des 
rom. Kaiserkultes in Klio XI (1911) 171. Similar is a fragment from Ameria 
in Umbria C. /. L. XL 4346; Bormann, Mitt, aus Oesiereich XIX (1896) 115. 

-79 - 



dation of the shrine (1). It is an interesting record of the 
tendency to accord divine honors to Augustus during his life 
time, a feature of religious development that was prominent 
in Campania and due in part to the presence of the Greek el- 
ement in the population. If Cumae was a colony of the Em- 
peror, this circumstance would tend to foster his cult. Here 
he seems not to have tried to repress the movement toward his 
deification in the same way that he did at Rome itself. It is 
certain that the Emperor was alive when these festivals were 
announced; otherwise the term diuus would have been ap- 
plied to him, when sacrifices to his divinity were ordered, and 
the date of his deification (Oct. 1 7) would scarcely have passed 
unnoticed (2). 

So far as it has been preserved the list shows seventeen 
days during the year which were sacred to Augustus. The 
ones selected are fewer in number and somewhat different 
from those celebrated at Rome, - a circumstance which indica- 
tes that the municipalities were free to decide the details of the 
worship, subject to Imperial approval. Most of the festivals 
refer to important events in the career of Augustus himself 
and embrace in the order of their occurrence the following 
celebrations: his birthday (Sept. 23), the assumption of the 
toga utrilis (Oct. 18), the occasion of receiving praetorian pow- 
er (Jan. 7), the first consulship (Aug. 19), the submission of 
Lepidus (Sept. 3), his designation as Augustus (Jan. 16), the 
consecration of the temple of Mars (May 1 2), the dedication of 
the altar of Fortuna Redux after his return from the East in 
19 B. C. (Dec. 15), his election as Pontifex maximus (March 
6) and the dedication of the altar of Pax Augusta in 9 B. C. 
Jan. 30) (3). Besides these events two others are probably 
indicated and are so printed in Mommsen's version, - the 
first victory of Augustus (April 15) and his salutation as Im- 
perator by the troops (April 16), both events of the year 43 

(1) Thq indications fixing the date are discussed by Mommsen, loc. 
cit. 267. Cp. Dessau, 108 and Heinen, Klio XI (19! 1) 171. The latter' (p. 17,5)). 
give* a list of temples, eJtiars, and priests of the living Augustus in Italy. 

(2) See p. 34. 

(3) The festival of Fortuna Redux was called Augusta 1 ia and widely, 
celebrated. Mommsen, Res gestae Divi Augusti II, 11 (p. 46); De Ruggiero, 
Augustalia, Ruggiero I, 877. 

- 80 - 



B. C. It is worthy of note that the initial day of this calendar 
marking the new year is Aug. 1 9, the day when Augustus en- 
tered uponi his consulship, which others, although not he 
himself, considered the beginning of his principate (1). 

The only occasion requiring the sacrifice of a victim was 
the festival of his birthday, when he himself as divinity re- 
ceived the honor of an immolatio; all others are designated 
simply as supplicationes to be observed with prayers and li- 
bations. On each day one or more gods were chosen to receive 
these honors, among whom the Emperor sometimes appeared. 
On one occasion the libation is made to the imperium of Cae- 
sar Augustus, the only instance cited for such a form of honor, 
and on another occasion he received tribute through the use 
of the abstract divinity Victoria Augusta. Similar abstractions 
are seen in the forms Fortuna Redux, Felicitas, Spes et Iu- 
ventas. In connection with Vesta are mentioned the dii pub* 
l(ic() P(enates) p(opuli) R(omani) Q(uiritium). A suppli- 
catio to this goddess held on the anniversary of the day that 
Augustus was made pontifex maxitnus was peculiarly fitting 
because her cult in particular was under the supervision of 
that officer (2). Among the greater gods appear Jupiter with 
the epithet sempiternus, and Mars, the latter in the combi- 
nation Moles Martis (3). Though Moles is a term whose sig- 
nificance in religion is little understood, it seems to refer to 
a vague divinity associated with Mars as companion and assist- 
ant (4). 

Besides these festivals celebrating the chief events in the 
life of Augustus, three notices allude to members of the Im- 
perial family whom the Emperor considered in the line of 

(1) Tac. ann. I, 9: Multus hinc ipso de Augusto sermo, plerisque 
uana mirantibus quod idem dies accepti quondam imperii princeps et uitae 
supremus. Mommsen, Rom. Staatsr. II , 747 . 

(2) Cp. Heinen, Klio XI (1911) 161 and Wissowa 76 for the action of 
Augustus as pontifex maximus relative to the Vestals. 

(3) For the epithet sempiternus see von Premerstein, Einc Votivinschrift 
aus augustischer Zeit in Mitt, aus Oesterreich XV (1892) 81. 

(4) Gell. XIII. 23; Mommsen, Gesam. Schr IV, 265, Peter, Moles 
Martis, Roscher, II, 3104; von Domaszewki, Die Eigenschaftsgotter der altromis- 
chen Relig. in Abhandl. zur rom. Relig. 106. Mommsen's equivalent for moles 
is Strebungen, which *s approved by von Domaszewski; the latter parallels the 
expression with such terms as uirtus Iegionis, exemplified in the religion of 
the Roman army. 

- 81 



succession to the throne, - Tiberius, his step-son and heir by 
adoption since 4 A. D. (Nov. 16) and the latter 's son Drusus 
(Oct. 7) and nephew Germanicus (May 24). In each case a 
birthday was celebrated with honors rendered to Vesta. Fi- 
nally, under date of July 12 the calendar probably contained 
a notice of the celebration marking the anniversary of the 
birth of Diuus Iulius. The divinities marked here for the sup- 
plicatio were Jupiter, Mars Ultor, and Venus Genetrix. 

Here as elsewhere the cult of Augustus was carried on 
by the Augustales, an association of uncertain number com- 
posed of the most distinguished freedmen of the community. 
Three members are known by name, C. Auianius Epagathus, 
Q. Valerius Salutaris, and M. Antonius Iulianus (1). An- 
other individual L. Caecilius Dioscorus is described as per 
manent curator; he was a member of a little known associa- 
tion of boatmen and is assigned to the third century A. D. (2). 
This inscription shows that the Augustales here as at Puteoli 
were presided over by curatores; it is the only instance in Cam- 
pania of the term permanent curator which can be attributed 
to a definite locality, as the examples commonly cited from 
Puteoli do not surely belong 1 t that city (3). It is also to be 
noted that three of the four men who held the office of Augu- 
stalis were members of the same organization in other towns, 
two at Puteoli and one at Misenum. Finally the Emperor was 
recognized in the cult of the Lares (4). 

Little is known of the worship of other Emperors. Besides 
the temple erected to Augustus there was one at least for 
Diuus Vespasianus; here in the year 289 A. D. the decurions 

(1) C. /. L. X, 3701 : Dis man. C. Auian$ Epagaihi August. Cumis. 
C. /. L< X, 690, Vaglieri 1970: D. m. Q. Valetrio Salutari Aug. Puteolisl ei 
Cumis... heredes C. /. L. X, 3676, D. 6059, Vaglieri 1730; D. m. M, Antoni 
Iuliani Augustali(s) immun(is) Misen. item August. Cum(is) etc. 

(2) N. S. 1897, 12, D. 6339: L. CaectiHa DioBcoro, curatori Augustalium 
Cumanor. perpetuo itemque Augustali dupl. Puteo!anor. et curatori perpet(uo)^ 
emr aenitariorum 111 ( = txierum?) Piscinensium uixit etc. Cp. Sogliano, Atti Nap. 
XVIII (1896-7) 1 ; Vaglieri, Atene e Roma I (1898) 197 ; Stein, Jahresber, iiber die 
Fottschr. der class. Alter. CXLIV (1909) 247. 

(3) Cp. de Ruggiero, Curator, Ruggiesro, II, 1342, who does not include^ 
this example in h's list of curatores of the Augustales. 
(4) C. /. L. X, 3691 : Lares Augus(ti) Agrippa. 

- 82 - 



held a meeting in the interests of the cult of Magna Mater, 
whose temple was situated at Baiae (1). 

ORIENTAL CULTS. 

As the temple of Magna Mater for this community was 
situated at Baiae, it will be discussed a little later. For the 
worship of the gods of Egypt there is little evidence. A neck- 
lace found here contains little figures of a clothed Isis and a 
nude Harpocrates imposing silence according to a familiar 
type. Similar figures of this god were probably designed to a- 
dorn the ears, and here as in the necklace served as phylac- 
teries (2). It has been claimed, however, that this necklace 
is an importation of Roman workmanship (3). 

Traces of Egyptian influence have been seen in a defixio 
scrawled upon a leaden tablet, which was discovered in a 
grave (4). It belongs to a class of magic inscriptions of which 
several examples have been found in Campania, and is in 
harmony with a pronounced tendency of the Greeks to make 
use of this method of attempting to punish an enemy (5). 
In this case the inscription is of a late date, the second or third 
century A. D., and shows the influence of the Oriental 
gods (6). It belongs to the division of amatory imprecations 
and is directed against a certain Valeria Quadratilla by her 
husband. A large part of the tablet is illegible or doubtful, 
and the divinities who are invoked can not always be deter- 
mined. Kaibel believed that there was a reference to Hermes 

(!) C. /. L. X, 3698. See below p. 87. 

(2) Semmoda, Mon. ined. dell' antichita e deUe belle aril 19 f. A pic- 
ture of the necklace is given on PI. III. For the efficacy of Harpocrates in 
amulets see Piin. not. XXXIII 3 (12); Ed. Meyer, Horos Roscher I, 2747; Jahn, 
Ueber den Aberglauben des bosen B/icJfes in Ber. d. Sachs. Ges. der Wissens 
VII (1855) 47; Marquardt-Wissowa, Rom. Staatsverw. Ill, 107. 

(3) Abeken, Mittelitalien 343 (4). 

(4) /. G. XIV 872, Audolient, Defixionum tahellae No. 198, where ref- 
erences to earlier publications may be found. Cp. Minervini, Bull. Nap. VI 
(1847-48) 66 f. For some reason Stein, Hermes, P.-W. VIII, 755 assigns this 
inscription to Capua. 

(5) Cesano, Defixio, Ruggiero II, 1563; Wiinsch, Defixionum tahellae, 
praef. II in /. G. Ill Append'x. 

(6) Cp. Deissmann, Btbelstudien 6. 

- 83 - 



and Anubis, but this is denied by Audollent (!). Cesano, 
however, sees Egyptian influence in the appeal to the ruler of 
the universe and the lower world (1. 10) and thinks that the 
great god Osiris is meant (2) . Other imprecations in fact in- 
voke this divinity by name with similar language, and there 
is evidently a reference (1. 28) to the Egyptian evil spirit Ty- 
phon-Set. (3). 

The tendency of the times to bring together deities of 
various nationalities, however far they were removed from one 
another in origin or function, is demonstrated here by the em- 
ployment of Iao, representing the great deity of the Jews, 
along with pagan divinities. The invocation of Iao is by no 
means a novelty, as he appears in a defixio from Puteoli and 
in other examples (4). Other evidence for the presence of 
the Jews in this city is lacking as well as that for an early 
Christian community; yet the latter almost surely existed be- 
fore the third or fourth centuries (5). 

BAIAE AND BAULL 

Along the sea-coast about two Roman miles south of 
Cumae extended the community of Baiae, composed in large 
part of the villas of wealthy Romans. This locality had some 
importance in early times during the days of Cumae 's com- 
mercial activity because of its harbor facilities; then after a 
period of stagnation it began to be popular in the last cen- 
tury of the Republic as a fashionable pleasure and health 
resort, but did not become widely known until the Imperial 
epoch. Among its attractions were its mineral springs, its 
scenery and its mild climate; during the summer, however, 

(1) Kaibel, I, G. XIV, 872; Audollent, Defixionum tabellae No. 198. 
The importance of Hermes in defixions 's explained by Wtinsch, Defixionum 
tabellae praef. VI in /. G. Ill, Appendix. 

(2) Cesano, Ruggiero II, 1578-1579. 

(3) Cp. Roder, Set, P.-W. IV, 774. 

(4) See citations by Ganschinietz, Iao P.-W. IX, 709. Cp. Cesano 
RuggierojII, 1578-1579. Seep. 161. 

(5) Harnack, Die Mission und die Ausbreitung des Christentams II » 
219; Lanzoni, he origini del Cristianesimo nella Campania romana in Riv. 
storico-crit. delle scienze teol VI (1910) 119. 

-84 - 



the air was thought to be malarious, and the most fashionable 
season was the spring. Many members of the Roman nobility 
as well as the Emperors had palatial residences round about, 
and the dissolute and licentious of both sexes flocked hither 
in search of gain and pleasure. But in spite of its celebrity and 
increasing population, which, however, was largely transient, 
Baiae did not have a municipal organization of its own; in- 
stead it remained under the jurisdiction of the municipal of- 
ficers of Cumae. Adjoining Baiae probably on the north was 
another community called Bauli similarly composed but of 
less importance. It too was subject to Cumae (1). 

Somewhere along the shore which lines the harbor of 
Baiae, probably on the projecting tongue of land called Punta 
dell'Epitafio, stood the temple of Venus Lucrina. It thus formed 
a part of Bauli (2). She may have derived this epithet be- 
cause her shrine was in close proximity to the lake of that 
name, but it is more likely that she was considered as a deity 
closely associated with it, and thus succeeded some primitive 
goddess such as that one who had a shrine at Avernus. The 
sanctuary of the Lucrine Venus is mentioned by Statius among 
the objects which strike the attention of an observer at Sur- 
rentum, along with Mt. Gaurus, Misenum, and other features 
of the landscape of this coast (3). Martial too refers to the 
same goddess, calling Baiae « the golden shore of the 



(1) Beloch 176, 180. Hulsen's statement of the location of Bauli be- 
tween Misenum and Baiae on the Punta dell'Epitafio is singularly inexact, 
since the cape alluded to is not between these places but north of Baiae. 
Htfsen, Bacoli, P.-W. Ill, 154. The theory that Bauli lay to the south of 

Baiae on the site of the modern village of Bacoli is stated by Nissen, halt' 
sche Landeskande II, 733. Cp. Mommsen C. /. L. X, p. 213. [See however 
Class. Quarterly (1910) 96 f. - Ed.] 

(2) Beloch, 178. 

(3) Stat. stit). Ill, 1, 147 f.: 

Spectat et Icario nemorosus pal mite Gaurus 
siluaque quae fixam pelago Nesicta coronat, 
et placidus Limon, omenque Euploea carinis, 
et Lucrina Venus, Phrygioque e uertice Graias 
addisces, Misene, tubas, ridetque benigna 
Parthenope gentile sacrum nudosque uirorum 
certatus et parua suae simulacra coronae. 

-85 - 



blessed Venus » (1); An inscription in her honor, written 
partly in meter and reported to have been discovered at Cu~ 
mae, may have been designed for this shrine. The dedication 
was made by Ti. Claudius Marcion to Venus with the epithets 
of proba and sanctissima, and is followed by verses in her 
praise (2). Another inscription which names this goddess 
is without religious significance (3). The nature of the cult 
exercised here is unknown; in the later period it may have 
been modified by influences from the East, but there is no 
reason to believe with Graillot that the divinity was preemi- 
nently Oriental (4). On account of her prominence a ruin in 
modern Baiae has received incorrectly the designation Tempio 
di Venere (5) . 

Evidence for the worship of Neptune is limited to a single 
citation from Petronius, who says that an image of the god 
stood in the Tetrastylon at Baiae (6). About this building 
nothing further is known. The traditions which connect Her- 
cules with this coast have already been discussed in the treat- 
ment of Cumae (7). Propertius perhaps contains a vague 
allusion to the traditions that Dionysus made a victorious ex- 
pedition toward the West as well as to the East. Nowhere else 
is there any statement that he visited Baiae, but the poet may 
have had in mind some local legend (8), According to the 
common designation there are in this vicinity remains of tem- 
ples devoted respectively to Mercury and Diana, but these 



(1) Mart. XI, 80 ; Litus beatae Veneris aureum Baias. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 3692 = D. 3170 = Vaglieri 1205: Veneri probae sanctiss- 
(imae) sacrum. Ti. Claudius Marcion. Followed by five hexameters =Biicheler 
Carm. epigraf. No. 225. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 2483. 

(4) Graillot, Le culte de Cybele 435. 

(5) Loffredo Le antiq. di Pozzuolo 46; Paoli Antiq. reliquiae Fol. 31, 
PL LI. 

(6) Petron. 104: Simulacrum Neptuni, quod Bais in Tetrastylo notaueram. 

(7) See p. 69. 

(8) Prop. Ill, 18, 1: 

Clausus ab umbroso qua ludit pontus Auerno, 

fumida Baiarum stagna tepentis aquae 

hie ubi, mortales dexter cum quaereret urbes 
cymbala Thebano concrepuere deo. 

86 



ruins are now believed to have belonged to bathing estab- 
lishments (I). 

MAGNA MATER. 

Our accounts of the society which flourished at Baiae un- 
der the Empire would lead us to believe that it offered a 
fruitful field for the growth of the mystery religions of the 
Orient. The people of the community were largely of the 
wealthy, leisure class, who in many cases had both tasted and 
tired of the world's pleasures. They would welcome, therefore, a 
religion that appealed to the individual ; convinced of the need 
of a personal salvation to free them from the load of guilt 
accumulated in the past and to offer encouragement for the 
future, they would naturally turn to those forms of worship 
which professed to supply this need. For such cults no certain 
evidence remains save in the case of the Great Mother, who 
under the name of Mater Baiana is known to have had a 
temple here in the third century A. D. Her cult was fostered 
not only by the presence of the element described above but 
also by reason of the proximity of the naval station at Mi- 
senum, where hosts of Asiatics had their quarters with the 
fleet. Graillot adduces this circumstance as a reason for the 
development of the cult at Puteoli, but more probably the 
larger part of the patronage of this transient element went 
to upbuild that at Baiae, which had its seat in a temple that 
was nearer and at the same time was by no means insignifi- 
cant (2). 

The same writer, calling attention to the topical designa- 
tion of the goddess, compares her to Venus Lucrina, and 
suggests that as the latter presided over the waters of the Lu- 
crine Lake, so the former protected the celebrated hot springs 
of the region (3). Indeed the circumstance that the Nymphs 
were usually associated with them would not exclude her, 

(1) Beloch 187; De Iorio, Guida di Pozzuoli (2) 130; Dubois, 408; Paoli 
r Antiq. reliquiae, Fol. 31, PI. LII, L1V. 

(2) Graillot, Le cult de Cybhle 432. 

(3) Graillot op. cit. 435 and Mater Deum Salutaris in Milanges Cagnai 
213 L 

- 87 - 



and she would tend gradually to supplant them. To judge from 
the place where the chief epigraphical evidence for the cult 
was found, her temple was situated on the height of the Cas- 
tello or close by at its foot. It was thus in the immediate vi- 
cinity of the harbor and at no great distance from the baths. 
As her worship increased in popularity, she no doubt usurped 
the functions and attributes of early divinities, and may have 
been brought into close relation with the Plutonium at Lake 
Avernus in her capacity of goddess of the underworld (I). 
Some interesting details of the administration of the wor- 
ship have been preserved (2). On the first day of June 289 
A. D, the decurions of Cumae, who in this as in other matters 
exercised jurisdiction over Baiae, met in the temple of Diuus 
Vespasianus to select a priest for the Magna Mater Baiana in 
the place of the former incumbent Claudius Resti tutus, who 
had died. When the praetors brought the matter to the atten- 
tion of the council, a vote was taken and Licinius Secundus 
was unanimously elected to fill the vacancy (3). It was nec- 
essary, however, before the newly elected priest could take 
office that the choice made by the local decurions should be 
formally ratified by the quindecirriuM sacris faciundis, the 
Roman board of commissioners having the care of religious 
matters. For this reason the priest is often called sacerdos quin~ 
decimuiralis (4). In this instance after a delay of two and a 



(1) Graillot, op. cit. 438. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 3698 = D. 4l75 = VagIieri 2135: M. Magrio Basso L. Ragonio 
Quintiano cos. K. Iunis, Cumis in templo Diui Vespasiani in ordine decurio- 
rum quern M. Mallonius Undanus et Q. Claudius Acilianus praet. coegerant, 

referentibus pr. de sacerdote faciendo Matris Deae Bainae in locum 

Restituti, sacerdotis defuncti, placuit uniuersis Licinium Secundum sacerdotem 
fieri. 

XVuiri sac. fac. pr. et magistratibus Cuman. sal. Cum ex epistula uestra 
cognouerimus, creasse uos sacerdotem Matris Deum Licinium Secundum in 
locum Claudi Restituti defunc, cui secundum uoluntatem uestra(m) permisi- 
mus ei occabo et corona dumtaxat intra fines coloniae uestrae uti. Optamus 
uos bene ualere etc. Cp. Bouche-Leclercq, Hist, de la divin. IV 310. 

(3) Cp. tr-e selection of an augur at Puteoli p. 117. 

(4) See the list of municipal priests in Graillot, Le culte de Cybele 239. 
The first dated instance of the term belongs to Lugdunum in Gaul, 160 A. D. 
(C. /. L. XIII, 1751); the first occurrence in Italy belongs to Forum Popilit 

- 88 - 



half months they sent their confirmation of the appointment 
granting to the priest the right to wear the insignia of his of- 
fice, - the occabus and the wreath, but limited the use of these 
distinctions to the territory of his own parish (1). This sys- 
tem of procedure shows that the various local cults of Magna 
Mater throughout Italy and doubtless in Roman colonies ev- 
erywhere were controlled by a systematic scheme of regulation 
on the part of the central government. The Romans indeed 
had looked with suspicion on the excesses of this worship 
from the outset of their acquaintance with it, and felt that it 
might easily become a menace (2). Yet before the third 
century this religion had obtained a fairly high standing in the 
state (3). 

There is no mention in this town of the taurobolium or of 
the official called archigallus, who flourished in the later Em- 
pire at the same period that this rite was practiced. But an- 
other inscription found at Cumae contains a complete list of the 
dendrophori, an association connected with the same cult, 
whose duty it was to bear the sacred pine of Attis in the pro- 
cession of the March festival (4). Abundance of material 
was at hand in this region for the activity of the woodmen 
who made up this collegium; stretching along the sandy shore 
to the north of Cumae were miles of dark, gloomy pine forest, 
which under the name of silua gallinaria had acquired an 
unenviable notoriety as the resort of brigands (5). The list 

(near Carinola) in the Ager Falernus, 186 A. D. (C. J. L. X, 4726). A list of 
quindecimviral investitures is given by Graitfot, Le culie de Cybele, 228. 

(1) For the tokens of office see Graillot, op. cit. 247 ; Dessau in Momm- 
sen, Ges. Schr. VIII, 17. 

(2) Graillot, o*>. cit. 229. 

(3) For the impetus to hex worship at the end of the second century 
A. D. see von Domaszewski, Magna Mater in Latin Inscriptions in jour. Rom. 
Stud. I (1911) 53. 

(4) C. I. L. X, 3699 = D. 4147 = Vaglieri 2141 : Ex s. c. dendrophori creati 
qui sunt sub cura XVuir(orum) s(acris) f(aciundis) cc. uu. ( = clarissimorum ui- 
rorum) L. Ampius Stephanus sac. M(atris) d(eum), q(in)q(uennalis) den(ropho- 
ris) dedicationi huius panem, uinum et sportulas dedit etc. The sacred and 
secular duties of the organization are discussed by Maue, Die Vereine der 
fabri, centonarii and dendrophori im rom Reich 19 f. Cp. von Domaszewski, 
Jour. Rom. Stud. (1911) 53; De Marchi, II culto privato di Roma antica, II, 101 f. 

(5) Strab. V, 4, 5; Graillot, he culte de Cybele 437-8; Juv. Ill 305. 

89 - 



from Cumae belongs to the year 251 A. D. and exhibits 87 
members, who just as the priest of Magna Mater were under 
the charge of the Roman quindecimuiri. From the beginning 
of the Empire the collegia had been considered a dangerous 
institution, and during the reign of Augustus a lex lulia de 
collegiis, effective throughout all Italy, prohibited the existence 
of all the associations that could not prove their usefulness 
to the community (1). To the class that was adjudged service- 
able belong the dendrophori, who at this time had selected 
as their patron L. Ampius Stephanus, an incumbent of the 
priesthood of the goddess. In accordance with the conventions 
of the time he distributed among the members of the society 
bread, wine, and other gifts, - an event which the inscription 
was designed to commemorate. This is an instance of the 
cordial relations existing between the priesthood and the co/- 
legium; as the priest here became patron, so often the den- 
drophori furnished the cult with its ministers. An examination 
of the list shows a large number of persons with names indic- 
ative of a foreign origin, and the organization was composed 
wholly or chiefly of freedmen. By this time, however, it had 
obtained a very respectable position in all the communities 
where it existed and could command the services of a man of 
some prominence as its patron (2). This fact indicates that 
the priest Stephanus, selected here to play that role, was likely 
a man of wealth and influence, but rather a rich freedman 
than one who enjoyed the highest social position. 

The comparatively large number of dendrophori, - 87 - has 
sometimes caused surprise, and the view was advanced by 
Beloch that the temple of the Mater Baiana served the people 
of Puteoli as well as those of Cumae and Baiae itself. Besides 



(1) Suet Aug. 32: Collegia praeter antiqua et legitime dissoluit. C. /. L. 
VI, 2193 = 4416. A list of collegia in Italy which were permitted to hold meet- 
ings is given by Walzing, Les corporations professionnelles chez les Romains 
I, 125. 

(2) For different opinions on the development of the dendrophori into 
a religious collegium see Aurgemma, Dendrophori, Ruggiero II, 1673 f . ; De 
Marchi, II culto privato di Roma antica II 103; Graillot, op. cit. 115, 266; von 
Domaszewski, op .cit. 53. For their standing see Graillot, op. cit. 273; Auri- 
gemma, Ruggero II, 1689. 

- 90 - 



alleging the small population of Cumae under the late Empire, 
he cites as a confirmation of this opinion the circumstance that 
in a list of dendrophori assigned to the shrine in question five 
members of the gens Granicus and three members of the 
Polii appear, - names which occur not infrequently in the 
inscriptions of Puteoli (1). The chief reason which makes 
this hypothesis untenable is the fact that Puteoli by reason of 
its large foreign population was the place which above all 
others could support an independent shrine. Although the 
list of dendrophori seems large, this feeling is mostly caused 
by the incompleteness of the lists that have reached us from 
other cities, so that as a result they give no clue to the total 
numbers (2). The right to nominate as members those out- 
side of their own occupation was a prerogative everywhere 
enjoyed by this association, but it was naturally used in some 
communities more than in others. Furthermore, the number 
of woodmen and dealers in that commodity at Cumae would 
tend to be unusually large because of the presence of the silua 
gallinaria, affording ample scope for the exercise of their call- 

ing (3). 

The expression ex senatus consulto dendrophori creaAi 
raises the question of how these men were chosen. Generally 
such societies were self creative, and vacancies were supplied 
and accessions made by the members themselves; in the case 
of this particular organization no evidence is at hand for any 
locality. According to Waking's opinion the senate named 
here stands for the decurions or local governing body, who 
not infrequently are so designated elsewhere (4). Hence 
with this method of selection the dendrophori would have a 
thoroughly official character. A reason for such procedure 

(1) C. /. L. X, 3700; Beloch 112. This view is stated by Aurigemma, 
Ruggiero II, 1689, who considers that menbers from Cumae and Puetoli form- 
ed one body of dendrophori, but his reasoning here seems less cogent than 
usual. Cp. Dubois, Mdlanges XX 11(1902) 35 f. 

(2) Lists are cited by Aurigemma, Ruggeiero II, 1687. 

(3) Graillot fails to mention this among the localities where the activity 
of the association was stimulated by the presence of forests. 

(4) Waking, Les corporations prof, chez lea Rom. I 247; II 356; Maue, 
Die Vereine der fabr. etc. 34. 

- 91 - 



might lie in the fact that in any one city the number of persons 
eligible for this body would be too great for all to be included, 
so that a selection on the part of some legally constituted au- 
thority would be advisable. 

Another view - and one that seems to accord better with 
the known circumstances - is stated by Aurigemma in his com- 
prehensive treatment of this collegium (I). He explains that 
the senate in question is that of Rome, by whose decree the 
dendrophori chosen in the ordinary way, are given the author- 
ity to exist as a collegium under the oversight of the Roman 
quindecemviral board (2). This mode of selection is more 
probable because it is in harmony with the common principle 
of cooptatio* In regard to the number of the dendrophori two 
facts tend to establish the existence of this method of choice. 
In the first place the numbers in the society prove rather the 
election of outsiders in addition to the wood dealers than a 
restriction of the collegium to a part of the eligibles (3). In 
the second place, if the matter depended on the decurions, we 
should expect a comparatively small number of members or at 
least a round number; on the contrary a list of 87 members 
shows all the marks of chance (4). At the same time the 
dendrophori were not merely a professional guild but also a 
religious society having an official relation to the state. As 
such they would be properly subject to the local authorities, 
while the quindedmuiri formed the board of ultimate ap- 
peal (5). In the fragmentary list already mentioned there is 
a probability that a statement occurred saying that the organ- 
ization held its meetings in accordance with a decree of the 
Senate, which again should be interpreted as that of Rome (6). 

(1) Aurigemma, Ruggiero II, 1688 f. 

(2) Cp. C. /. L. VI, 2193. 

(3) Cp. Graillot, op. eft. 266 (4), who considers that menbership was 
compulsory on the part of those eligible from their occupation, and Maue, 
op. cit. 35 who states that the collegium consisted of a fixed, obligatory 
membership after the second century A. D. 

(4) It is probable that complete lists for towns like Tomi and Ostia 
would show the same peculiarity. 

(5) See p. 139. 

(6) C. /. L. X, 3700. C. /. G. 5856, referring to Magna Mater, has been 
rejected as a forgery by recent editors. 

- 92 - 



MISENUM. 

Beyond Baiae in the extreme southern part of the territory 
of Cumae there grew up on Cape Misenum a village of the 
same name. Unlike Baiae, however, it did not continue as a 
dependent community through its entire history, for about 31 
B. C, after Agrippa had utilized the magnificent harbor as 
the headquarters of one of the Roman fleets, Misenum became 
quickly prominent and was made an independent municipal- 
ity. Although it was technically a JRoman colony with the 
regular officials belonging to such a town, it was in reality 
little more than a naval station, - a fact attested by the kind 
of epigraphical evidence that its site has yielded. When the 
Roman naval power diminished in the fourth century, the place 
declined, but it continued to exist for a long period until fin- 
ally destroyed by the Saracens (before 900) (I). 

PRE-ROMAN DEITIES. 

The evidence for religious matters at Misenum belongs 
necessarily to the period of the Empire and is not extensive. 
Jupiter is found once with the epithet Striganus in a dedication 
coming from a trier archa L. Varenius Rufus (2). As no other 
examples occur where the god was so honored, the epithet is 
not well understood. From the character of the dedicator and 
the use of the word striganus elsewhere in the sense of an office 
in the navy, it is clear that there is an allusion to some aspect 
of the god which was recognized by seamen (3). None of 
the other major divinities have left traces of their presence, 
unless perhaps a fragmentary inscription refers to Mercury (4). 

Deus Magnus et Fatum Bonum appear as divinities upon 
an altar which commemorates a vow made by Valerius Va- 
lens to be paid when he attained the position of prefect of the 

(1) Beloch 190 f.; Mommsen, C. /. L. X, p. 317; De Petra, / porti anti- 
chi dell* Italia meridionale 321 i. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 3337=:VagHeri 1122: Ioui Strigano L. Varenius Rufus 
tr(ierarcha). 

(3) Cp. C. /. L. X, 3495 ; Forcellini, Lexicon V, 656. 

(4) C. /. L. X, 3338. 

-93 - 



fleet stationed here (1). The inscription, partly in Greek and 
partly in Latin, falls between the years 238-244 A. D. The pe- 
culiar kind of deity reverenced by this officer indicates not a 
belief in the old gods of the state nor in the imported Oriental 
cults, but rather a trust in a philosophical system where a pan- 
theistic deity includes in his person the functions of all minor 
deities. It is the religion peculiar to the man of high station, 
which has not been appreciably affected by the mystery cults 
at the period when their influence was at its height. 

ROMAN DEITIES. 

The official religion of the colony is represented by two 
inscriptions both having to do with the same man D. Iunius 
Certus who is called sacerdos et haruspex publicus (2). He 
had been selected for the latter office from among the priests 
of the community and seems to have been a man of some prom- 
inence (3). This is the only mention of a haruspex who 
can be definitely associated with any of the Campanian towns, 
although the office doubtless existed at this time in all of 
them. In some localities at least they formed a collegium, and 
unlike the public priests received a salary for their servi- 
ces (4). 

The worship of Augustus and the Julian gens was in the 
hands of Augustales, three of whom are known (5). Two of 

(!) C. /. L. X, 3336=/. G. XIV 873 = D. 3756 = Vaglieri 1047: Deo magna 
et Fata Bono Val. Valens u(ir) p(erfcctissimu?) pnaefect. classis Mis. p(iae) u(in- 
dicis) Gordianae uotum soluit. 8stp ptsytatcp xai xaX^ Moipq, OudXrjg | apx^v 
Xax&v s-rcapxov MetoYjvtov axoXou | Icmjaa (Scdjulov sxtsXcov sOjc^v i/i^v. For another 
position held by Valens see D. 2159. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 3680 = D. 4957a =Vaglieri 2222: D. m. D. Iunio D. f. Clau. 
Certo sacerdoti et aruspici publico ex genere sacerdotum creato fratri pientis- 
simo. C. /. L. X, 3681 =D 4957: D. m. D. Iunio D. f. Quad. ( = Claud.) Certo 
sacerdoti et aruspici publico nepotes pientissimi. 

(3) Thulin, Haruspices, P.-W. VII, 2439. 

(4) Thulin loc. cit.; Marquardt-Wissowa, Rom. Staatsverw. Ill, 415; 
Wissowa, 548; Bouche-Leclercq , Hist, de la divin. IV, 376 (list of haruspi- 
ces in Italy and the provinces); C. /. L. IX, 1540 (from Beneventum). 

(5) A. J. A. 1898, 394, No. 53; C. /. L. X, 3675= Vagi ieri, 1729: D. m. 
M. Antonius Ianuarius honoratus Augustalis Misenis (sic) uixit etc. ; C. I. L. 
X, 3676 = Vaglieri 1730: D. m. M. Antoni Iuliani, Augustali(s) immun(is) Mi- 
sen(i), item August. Cum(is) adlect(o) trib(ui) Palat. uixit etc. 

-94 - 



them Flauius Zoticus and M. Antonius Ianuarius are desig- 
nated simply as Augustales, the third M. Antonius Iulianus 
was a more distinguished personage, who had received his 
office as an immunis without being called upon to make the 
customary outlay for amusements or other purposes. He filled 
the same position at Cumae. According to von Premerstein 
the word honoratus in the epitaph of Ianuarius has reference 
to a special grade in the association which this man had reach- 
ed (1). But as there are no other examples of this rank, 
it seems more natural to consider the word simply as a term 
of eulogy alluding to the esteem in which he was held while 
filling the post of Augustalis. It should be noted further that 
immunis is not a common term, but the idea that it conveys is 
expressed often enough in other ways. 

JUPITER DOLICHENUS. 

The officers, soldiers, sailors and artisans of the fleet sta- 
tioned at Misenum were in many cases Orientals by birth and 
naturally interested in the cults which originated in the East. 
Such continued to be the composition of the soldiers of the 
fleet when they had been organized in the first legio adiu- 
trix (2). Their presence in most cases caused the dedication 
of sporadic inscriptions rather than the maintenance of special 
shrines, particularly when there were already in existence at 
Puteoli and Baiae sanctuaries of the divinities favored by these 
people. In a few cases, however, where the divinity was not: 
much worshipped outside of the army, regular cults with shrine 
and priests may have been instituted at Misenum. This is 
what seems to have happened in the case of Jupiter Doli- 
chenus, who is mentioned in a few extant inscriptions of 
doubtful origin. Although this cult has been generally assign- 
ed to Puteoli, its seat was more probably at Misenum in 

(1) Von Premerstein, Augustales, Ruggiero 1, 850. 

(2) Aschbach, Die rom. Legionen prima una* secunda adiutrix in Sitz~ 
ungsber. der ferns. Akad. (Wien) XX (1856) 301, 314; Marquardt, Rom. Staats- 
verw. II (2), 511; Cagnat, Legio, D.-S. Ill, 1057, 1075; Vaglieri, Adiutrix, 
Ruggiero I, 86 f. A list of nationalities revealed by inscriptions from Misenum 
is found in Marquardt, op. cit. 11(2) 510 (2). 

- 95 - 



close proximity to the gTeat naval establishment (I). For 
this cult was not spread especially by merchants, as maintain- 
ed by Hettner, nor by civilians of any class, but by the differ- 
ent branches of the military. Dolichenus alone of all the 
Oriental deities was primarily a soldiers' god and his presence 
is not attested in localities where soldiers were not station- 
ed (2). 

He was originally the tutelary god of Doliche in Comma- 
gene and was usually conceived in the form of a vigorous man 
standing on the back of a bull. Amalgamated with [Jupiter 
like other deities of the East, he became very popular with 
the soldiers about Hadrian's time, and was favored especially 
under Commodus and the Severi. Besides his popularity with 
the soldiers he enjoyed the worship of the lower classes, and 
slaves played no insignificant part in introducing and main- 
taining his cult (3). 

An inscription which exists only in a manuscript copy 
preserves the name of a priest Antipater and of four devotees 
who made offerings of silver to the god as /. O. M. Dol. (4). 
After the name of each of the donators appears the word 
filia, which in its present form is wholly unintelligible. Kan 
ingeniously conjectured that the reading of the stone was 
Cilix and that this was mistaken by an eighteenth century 
copyist for filia. Though this conjecture is not entirely con- 



(1) Assigned! to Puteoli by Mommsen C. /. L. X, p. 195; Hiilsen, Rom. 
Mitt. XVIII (1903) 74; and doubtfully by Dubois, 154 f. 

(2) Hettner, De love Dolicheno 6, 15; Kan, De Iovis Dolicheni culto 
11; C. H. Moore, The Distribution of Oriental Cults in the Gauls and the 
Germanics in Trans, and Proc. of the Am. Phil Assoc. XXXVIII (1907) 145. 
Cp. Seidl, Ueher den Dolichenus-Cult in Sitzungsber. der Kais. A\ad. (Wien) 
XII (1854) 24; von Domaszewsk*. Die Religion des rbm. Heeres 59; Cumont, 
Textes et monuments I, 263. 

(3) Ed. Meyer, Dolichenus, Roscher, I, 1191 f . ; Cumont, Dolichenus, 
P.-W. V, 1216 f.; Reinach, Dolichenus Dsus Jupiter, D.-S. II, 329 f . ; C. S. 
Sanders, Iupiter Dolichenus in Jour, of the Am. Oriental Society XXIII (1902) 
89; Kan, op. cit. U, ]7. 

(4) C. /. L. X, 1577, Vaglieri 1117: Iulius sub sacerdote Antipatro I. O. 
M. Dol., Iulius Antiochus filia p(ondo) I arg(enti) d. d. Antonius Domitianus 
filia p(ondo) I arg(enti) d. d. Iulius Ianuarius filia p(ondo) IS arg(enti) d. d. 
Antinius Valens filia. p(ondo) I arg(enti) d. d. 

- 96 - 



vincing it has the great merit of fitting the circumstances of 
the case, for there were a large number of Cilicians with the 
, fleet, who might have made the offerings (1). Another in- 
scription, partially preserved, alludes to a dedication made 
by order of a god who is designated by the letters I. O. 
M. D. (2) This might be understood as a reference to Jupiter 
Damascenus, who is known to have had adherents in this 
region. But the greater prominence of Dolichenus and the 
circumstance that the fragment was found at Misenum render 
it almost certain that the dedication was intended for him. In 
fact a reference to the other god would not have been made 
in this abbreviated way, or it would have been misunder- 
stood (3). A priest is mentioned but the inscription has been 
too much mutilated to give the exact sense of the whole. 

Finally a stone containing the Latin alphabet flanked by 
two towering serpents belongs evidently to this cult (4). The 
inscription, whose sacred character is thus symbolically in- 
dicated, belongs to the large class of magic formulas in which 
a whole or part of the alphabet is employed (5). The use of 
such inscriptions seems to have been a noticeable feature of 
the Dolichenus cult, and to have depended on the idea that 
from such a series of letters the god could understand all the 
petitions that the worshipper might thereby frame (6). Ac- 
cording to one theory the presence of the alphabet is accounted 
for by the identification of Dolichenus with the Babylonian 
Nebo, who presided over the art of writing; according to an- 
other theory it was due originally to indolence on the part 
of the Asiatic devotees of the god, but it was more probably 
an instance of the belief that the alphabet had magical pow- 
ers, - a sentiment which was a survival from primitive times 



(1) Kan, op. cit. 84-85. The inscription was copied by Matteo Egizio 
(Aegyptius) or by Christophorus Saxius. The epitaph of Iulius Antiochus, 
faber dupliciarius, a Cilician, appears in C. /. L. X, 3424. A list of the men 
of this nationality at Misenum is given by Kan, loc. cit. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 1575. 

(3) Hettner, De love Dolicheno 23. 

(4) Hiilsen, Rom. Mitt. XVIII (1903) 73. 

(5) Dieterich, ABC-Denkmdler in Rh. Mus. LVI (1901) 77 f. 

(6) Hiilsen, Klio II (1902) 235. 

- 97 - 



when the art of writing was regarded as a marvelous thing (1). 
Similar inscriptions belonging to the cult of Dolichenus have 
been found at Rome and in the provinces, notably in Panno- 
nia (2). The inscription from Misenum has been assigned by 
Hiilsen on account of the later forms to the period of Trajan 
and Hadrian (3). 

HAMAE. 

Between Capua and Cumae and only three Roman miles 
distant from the latter town was a village, where the inhabit- 
ants of Campania were accustomed to gather annually, for 
an important religious festival which lasted for three days (4). 
It was in fact the sanctuary of the Campanian league in which 
Capua had the leading place (5). One of these celebrations 
in 215 B. C. became of historical importance because of a 
Roman victory which resulted on account of it. The Capuans 
had invited the senators of Cumae to meet them here, osten- 
sibly to arrange an alliance, but in reality according to Livy 
to entrap them. As the Roman authorities had been informed 
by* the Cumaeans of the plot, they were enabled to surprise 
the Campanian army before it had time to carry out the plans 
of the Capuan leaders and so the Romans won an easy vic- 
tory (6) . Nissen connects with the place the celebration mark- 
ed in the late Campanian calendar as profectio ad iter A- 
uerni (7). It seems more probable, however, that this festival 
was concerned with the observances due to the dead, and 
hence was held at Lake Avernus itself. There is no reason to 
suppose that the festival that Livy mentions was kept up indef- 
initely and thus survived till the end of the pagan world. 

(1) Hiilsen, loc. cit.; Kan, De lovis Dolicheni culto 52; Tragan, quoted by 
Kan, loc. cit.; cp. A. Jeremias, Nebo, Roscher HI, 55; Mommsen, Rom. Gesch 
(5) V. 462; Dieterich Rh. Mus. LVI (1901), 103. 

(2) HuUen, KUo I! (1902) 235 : Dell, Au:grabungen in Camuntum in 
Arch.-epigraph. Mitt, aus Oester. XVI (1893) 156 L 

(3) Hiilsen, Rom. Mitt. XVII (1903) 73. 

(4) Its exact location is unknown. 

(5) Liv. XXIH, 35,3: Campanis omnibus statum sacrificium ad Hamas 



erat. 



(6) Liv. XXIII, 35. 

(7) Nissen, Italische Landeskunde II, 715. 

- 98 



CHAPTER III. 
PUTEOLI, 

Puteoli, once the leading commercial city of Italy, enjoyed 
a favorable location on the Campanian coast amid the Phle- 
graean Fields. Lying between the territories of Cumae and 
Neapolis and bounded on the north by that of Capua, it was 
originally limited in its jurisdiction to an extremely small dis- 
trict; for the domain of Capua, which included the A get 
Campanus and the mountain separating this from the sea, 
thus reached to its very doors. But during the reign of Vespa- 
sian a considerable tract of the Campanian plain extending 
about as far as the modern town of Aversa or perhaps even 
to the River Clanius seems to have been allotted to Puteoli, 
because it had favored the emperor's candidacy for the throne, 
while Capua had espoused the cause of his rival Vitellius. The 
early settlement was constructed upon the elevation which is 
occupied by the present town of Pozzuoli, but after the Han- 
nibalic War the city began to increase gradually in size and 
to cover the low district surrounding the harbor. 

The oldest part of the city was systematically arranged 
after the Greek fashion as in Neapolis with parallel rows of 
streets, which were laid out according to the points of the 
compass and intersected one another at right angles. The 
harbor district on the contrary showed no regular plan. When 
the city later received a Roman colony, the district extending 
inland toward the Solfatara was laid out for their use accord- 
ing to the Roman style systematically with cardo and Je- 
cumani, - a fact attested by the parallelism of the principal 
modern roadways that follow the ancient lines. Two important 
highways entered Puteoli from the interior, the Via Campana 

-99 - 



from Capua and the north, the Via Antiniana from Neapolis, 
Other roads extended along the shore. 

The importance of the place was due chiefly to its harbor, 
whose waters were protected by the construction of an enor- 
mous mole; although this was once destroyed, it was rebuilt 
with the aid of the Emperor Antoninus Pius. During the last 
century and a half of the Republic and the first years of the 
Empire vessels from all parts of the world could be seen in the 
harbor; the Oriental trade especially that with Egypt and 
Phoenicia thrived. The arrival of the Alexandrian fleet was 
the event most anticipated by the whole population. The com- 
mercial importance of Puteoli grew with the development of 
Roman influence in the Orient and the spread of luxury at 
Rome, when that city first became a world power ; it declined 
when a port was constructed at the mouth of the Tiber by 
Claudius. 

To carry on the various branches of commercial activity 
many merchants from the East took up their abode here bring- 
ing with them their customs and religious notions. There was 
also always present a large floating population of sailors and 
longshoremen from the three continents of the ancient world. 
In contrast, therefore, to the other cities on the Campanian 
coast, Puteoli at the beginning of the Christian era was a busy 
cosmopolitan trade center rather than a quiet provincial town. 
Furthermore, while its activity was primarily commercial, it 
was to a large extent engaged in manufactures. These com- 
prised articles of iron brought from Elba and Sardinia, white- 
lead, pottery, mosaics, and dye-stuffs, all of which helped 
to swell the bulk of commerce. Another article was the cele- 
brated puluis puteolanus or pozzolana for the preparation of 
cement. But, although the great mass of the population had 
assembled here for business reasons, there were not wanting 
men of wealth and leisure who built villas upon the surround- 
ing hills because of the scenic charm of the place and its a- 
bundance of mineral springs. Among this class were Sulla 
and Cicero (1). 

(I) Further particulars are given by Beloch 114 f . ; Dubois 64 f . ; Nissen, 
it. Landesk- II, 740 f. ; Sogliano, Pozzuoli e Pompei in Atene e Roma XVII 
(1914) 368; De Petra, / porti antichi dell 'Italia meridionale 317 f. 

- 100 - 



Puteoli, first known as Dicaearchia, was the seat of a 
Greek colony. Although there is some uncertainty about the 
origin of these earlier settlers, it is generally admitted that 
they were Samians, who were seeking new homes, perhaps 
in consequence of the tyranny of Poly crates. They seem, how- 
ever, to have been few in numbers and to have been in a 
state of dependence upon Cumae. In fact the place is spoken 
of merely as a port of that city, and doubtless derived from 
that source the greater part of its population. During the pe- 
riods of Greek and Oscan supremacy in Campania Puteoli 
had no particular history and its original Greek element soon 
disappeared. 

Coming into the hands of the Romans, it served as a 
strong fortress and base of operations against Hannibal. It had 
been put with Cumae under the charge of the Campanian mag- 
istrate, the praetor Capuam Cumas in 318 B. C. and contin- 
ued in this state until 194 B. C. when it received a Roman 
colony of 300. From this time it increased rapidly in popu- 
lation and commercial importance at the expense of Neapolis, 
the port through which the Oriental trade with Italy had for- 
merly passed. Popular disturbances are reported at the time 
of Sulla and Nero. Because of the fact that the latter is said 
to have changed the government from a municipality into a 
colony (63 A. D.), though Roman colonists were found here 
long before his day, scholars have been constrained to admit 
the unsatisfactory theory of a double state existing for many 
years, made up on the one hand of Roman citizens and on the 
other of non-Romans governed as a municipality (1). At any 
rate Nero called the city by the imposing title of Colonia Clau- 
dia Neronensis Puteolana an appellation which was changed 
to Colonia Flauia Augusta Puteolana under Vespasian, who 
was much liked in the town. As already stated, the im- 
portance of the city declined after the first Christian century, 
but it still figured largely in the distribution of public grain 
under Constantine and his successors. Since it was not protec- 
ted as a whole by walls, it suffered much when the barbarians 
had made their way into Italy; most of the inhabitants went 

(1) Cp. Kornemann, Colonia, P.-W. IV f 538. 

- 101 - 



to Naples and only the heights occupied by the first settlement 
continued to be populated (1). 

In contrast to the extremely limited number of inscriptions 
available for the study of religion in many localities of Cam- 
pania, Puteoli appears at first sight to present a real wealth 
of epigraphical material. But many inscriptions that have been 
classified as belonging to this city have no real claim for such 
an assignment. The cities in the vicinity were so numerous, 
and were situated in such close proximity one to the other, that 
it is often difficult, if not impossible, to determine the source 
of a given inscription. The principle followed by Mommsen in 
editing this portion of the Corpus of Latin inscriptions, to at- 
tribute to Puteoli as the largest city all those inscriptions which 
can not be definitely associated with Cumae, Misenum or 
Neapolis, makes the epigraphical evidence confusing and of- 
ten of little value. Hence it is necessary to use great caution 
in dealing with this material in order not to draw unwarranted 
conclusions from it (2). 

Unlike Cumae Puteoli does not exhibit any evidence for 
the religion of the early Greek settlers; likewise Oscan in- 
scriptions are wanting, and there is little material on which 
to base a study of the earlier period. References to religious 
matters pertain generally to the Roman period, and we can use 
the Roman names in speaking of the various deities, although 
the principal ones must have been worshipped here long be- 
fore the Roman domination. Cults that are not of Roman ori- 
gin are included in the following list. 

PRE-ROMAN DEITIES, JUPITER. 

Jupiter was worshipped under several guises as a result 
of the identification of the great Greek and Italian divinity with 
Oriental gods, but these combinations will be reserved for later 

(1) For the history of Puteoli see Mommsen, C. /. L. X, pp. 182-184; 
Dubois, 1 f . ; Nissen, It. Landcs\. II, 737; Beloch 89-93 and Erganzungen 433. 

(2) Cp. Dressel, Numismatische Beitrage in Hist. und. Phil. Aufsdtze E. 
Curtius getoidmet 255 (4). I have relegated to the Appendix as wholly uncer- 
tain several inscriptions classed by Mommsen with the Puteolanae and used 
by Dubois for establishing various cults in this city. 

- 102 - 



treatment. Likewise the cult of the Capitoline deity will be 
discussed in the next section, and the old cult of Jupiter Flaz- 
zus, assigned to Puteoli by Dubois, has been left for the Ap- 
pendix (1). 

APOLLO. 

Whatever may have been the exact origin of the first 
settlement around Puteoli, there is little doubt that the settlers 
were worshippers of Apollo. The god may well have been 
introduced with the colonists who arrived from Samos; it has 
even been suggested that this colony was the source of the 
Sibylline oracles in south Italy, which are supposed to have 
passed through it on their way from Erythrae to Cumae (2). 
In addition, the strong influence which Cumae wielded in this 
district and the probability that citizens of that town had a 
part in the early development of Puteoli make the location of 
a temple here at this period amount to a certainty. 

Statius goes farther and says that the colonization was 
made under the auspices of Apollo (3). But since the reference 
to Puteoli in the first part of this passage has been called in 
question, as by Dubois, it becomes necessary to re-examine 
the words of Statius. In relating that various cities of Campa- 
nia were spared by the volcano Vesuvius the poet cites sever- 
al examples, which he designates by circumlocutions. In ac- 
cordance with the view of Dubois, who arbitrarily inserts a 
mark of punctuation between tecta and Dicarchei, there is first 
a reference to Apollo *s temple at Cumae as far as the word 

(1) Corcia, Storia delle due Sidlie II, 179, erroneously claims temples 
lor Jupiter under the three fold aspect of Optimus Maximus, Custos and 
Victor. 

(2) Grailiot, Le culte de Cyb&le 44. 

(3) Stat. sifo. Ill, V, 74 f . : 

Hinc auspice con^ita Phoebo 
tecta Dicarchei portusque et litora mundi 
hospita: at hinc magnae tractus imitantia Romae 
quae Capys aduectis impleuit moenia Teucris. 
Nostra quoque et propriis tenuis nee rara colonis 
Parthenope, cui mite solum trans aequora uectae 
ipse Dionaea monstravit Apollo columba. 

- 103 - 



tecta, then a reference to the harbor and hospitable shore of 
Puteoli, and finally allusions to Capua and Neapolis (1). But 
this reading puts a forced interpretation upon the statements 
of Statius, who clearly divides his account into three parts 
marked off definitely by the particles hinc, at hinc, and quo- 
que. Moreover, each circumlocution describing the three chief 
Campanian towns, - Puteoli, Capua and Neapolis, - is approx- 
imately of the same length, - long enough in fact to make 
the reference perfectly intelligible to the reader. Hence we are 
justified in understanding the words of Statius as an evidence 
for the existence of an early cult of Apollo at Puteoli. 

Naturally his temple was located on the Acropolis, the 
site of the first Greek settlement. The building appears on a 
plate inserted at the beginning of Bellori's Fragmenta vestigii 
Ceteris Romae (2). This .design is labelled ex antiqua pictura ; 
though the original soon disappeared, it was first seen and de- 
scribed by Ottavio Falconieri (3). The scene here represented 
has been sometimes considered to be a view of the Tiber be- 
neath the Aventine hill at Rome, and this opinion has been 
more recently revived by Hulsen; most modern scholars, how- 
ever, following the lead of Canina have seen here the coast 
of Puteoli (4). In fact the design appears to be a reproduction 
more or less exact of the mole and the principal buildings a- 
long the shore of this city, and is probably derived from a 
good source. It is thus to be considered in the same class 
with the vases which exhibit painted designs of the Campanian 
coast at Baiae and Puteoli. In Bellori's plate a small building 
marked T. APOLLINIS is seen in the extreme right-hand 

(!) Dubois, 133. 

(2) Bellori, Fragmenta vestigii veteris Romae (1673) 1. 

(3) Described in a letter to N. Heinsius with date of Aug. 19, 1668; by 
Burmann, Sylloge epistolarum a viris illustrious scriptarum V, p. 527; and 
Hulsen p. 214 of the article cited below. The original painting, found in 1668 
at Rome, is assigned to the third century A. D. Hulsen, Rom. Mitt. XI (1896) 
219; Dubois. 204. 

(4) Hulsen, Di una pittura antica ritrovata sulVEsquilino nel 1668 in 
Rom. Mitt. XI (1896) 213 f . ; Canina, Architettura antica, sezione romana 186 
and table 161 ; De Rossi, Topografia delle spiagge di Baja in Bull. Nap. n. s. 
I (1853) 133 f. ; VI (1854) 153 f. and Le prime raccolte d'antiche iscrizioni 
58; Jordan, 'Arch. Zeit. XXVI (1868) 93; Beloch 126; Dubois, 201 f. 

- 104 - 



side near the sea. Beloch, therefore, followed by Dubois, puts 
the temple on the western side of the church called Purifica- 
zione a mare, but somewhat higher up (1). 

Two dedications, reported to have been found at Pu- 
teoli, belong to this cult; they exhibit nothing of importance 
and contain merely the names of the dedicators (2). A citizen 
of this place L. Aurelius Pylades, the actor of pantomimes, 
who flourished under Marcus Aurelius and Commodus, was 
a prominent member of one of the actors' associations, the 
parasiti Apollinis. On a pedestal from Puteoli he is called their 
patron and priest (3). But this society probably modelled af- 
ter the associations of Greek artists who stood under the pro- 
tection of Dionysus, had its seat in Rome, where its members 
were concerned especially with the dramatic performances of 
the ludi A pollinates (4); hence it is not to be considered with 
Waking as a local society of Puteoli or as having a branch 
here (5). The priesthood held by Pylades belonged to Rome, 
while the dignities granted him at Puteoli are expressly asso- 
ciated with his town later in the inscription. 

CERES. 

The cult of Demeter along with Cora may without hesi- 
tation be ascribed to the city from its foundation both because 
of its early dependence upon Cumae and by reason of the 
wide prevalence of Demeter worship and the mysteries gener- 

(1) Beloch 131 ; Dubois, Cultes et dieux a Pouzzoles in Melanges d'arch. 
et d'hist. XXII (1902) 25. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 1544: Apollini sacrum. Q. Trebellius Restitutus fecit. 
C. /. L. X, 1545: Sacrum Apollini. C. Ratinius Firmus. Mommsen suspected 
without sufficient reason that both inscr'ptions came from Cumae. Cp. Du- 
bois, Melanges XXII (1902) 24. 

(3) N. S. 1888, 237 = £. £. VIII, 369 = D. 5186=Vaglieii, 1895. For the text 
of the inscription see p. 117. 

(4) A. Muiler, Die Parasiti Apollinis in Philologus LXIH (1904) 360. Cp. 
Mommsen, Tre iscrizioni puteolane in Rom. Mitt. Ill (1888) 79; Dubois, Pouz- 
zoles antique 62; Vaglieri, ^poHints parasitus, Ruggiero I, 519, Waking, 
Etude historique sur les corporations professionelles IV, 112 gives a list of 
parasiti. 

(5) Waking, op. cit. IV, 181. 

- 105 - 



ally in south Italy. Her worship was doubtless accompanied 
by mysteries in this city as at Cumae and Neapolis (1). Un- 
der the nam^e of Ceres the goddess continued to be popular 
after the period of Roman influence began. She was certainly 
not introduced at this time, as Dubois rightly maintains, yet 
Beloch, who is credited by Dubois with the opposite opinion, 
also admitted her presence as Demeter in the Greek pe- 
riod (2). This worship was officially recognized by the com- 
munity and was in the hands of public priestesses (sacerdotes 
publicce) as elsewhere in Campania. Two inscriptions perhaps 
of the first century A. D. allude to the office of priestess; the 
name of one of them Sabina appears in an epitaph; that of 
the other can no longer be determined (3). The position was 
looked upon as one of great honor, and Sabina, who attended 
to the preparation of her monument during her own life time, 
speaks proudly of her distinction. A third inscription contains 
the name of a priestess Stlaccia; she is styled sacerdos Cere- 
rum and lived at the beginning of the third century (4). By 
this time, however, the character of the cult had been thor- 
oughly modified as a result of contact with the beliefs and 
practices of the Orient. It was now closely allied with the 
worship of Dionysus, and will be mentioned again with that 
cult when the Oriental religions are treated. 

• A draped statue found in this neighborhood belongs to 
the Ceres type and was probably designed to bear a torch. 
This, however seems to be a portrait statue, or at any rate was 
made for decorative rather than for religious purposes (5). 
The site of the temple is unknown; several theories, which 
all lack a solid foundation, are discussed by Corcia (6). 



(1) Dubois, Melanges XXII (1902) 27 (4). 

(2) Dubois, Pouzzoles antique 134 and Milanges XXII (1902) 27; Beloch 
104. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 18I2=VagIieri 1907: Sabina sacerdos Cereris public, mon- 
umentum sibi uiuae fecit. C. /. L. X, 1829. Cp. p. 231. 

(4) C. /. L. X, 1585 = D. 3366 = Vaglieri 1138. 

(5) Reinach, Repertoire de la statuaire grecque et romaine II, 656, No. 9; 
Dubois.PouzzoZes antique 416, No. 9. 

(6) Corcia, Di una votiva statuetta egizia in Atti Nap. II (1866) 64 f. 

- 106 - 



NEPTUNE. 

A great sea-port, the prosperity of which depended upon 
its commerce could scarcely fail to recognize the principal di- 
vinities that controlled the sea. Thus Neptune, conceived ac- 
cording to the attributes of the Greek Poseidon, had a place 
in the community. His name was applied to a portico, which 
Cicero used to illustrate a problem in his Academics, saying, 
<( We see Puteoli but do not see our friend Auianus, who is 
perhaps strolling about in Neptune's portico (1) ». De Iorio 
understood this as an allusion to a portico directly connected 
with a temple of the god, which he located on the site of the 
so - called Tempio delle Ninfe west of the city, on the ground 
that to this point there was an unimpeded view from Bacoli in 
accordance with Cicero's statement (2). But in reality it seems 
to have stood farther east. It is marked on Bellori's plan with 
the words portex Neptani, and was part of an extensive sys- 
tem of colonnades extending along the harbor, the remains 
of which are now for the most part under water. It was per- 
haps divided into sections named after leading divinities; 
that of Neptune is located by Beloch, following the plan, at 
the eastern extremity somewhere between the great mole and 
the church Purificazione a mare (3). It is probable that a 
temple stood in the vicinity and gave its name to this section, 
but no precise information is at hand. The ruin improperly 
called Tempio di Nettuno belongs to a bath. This god is also 
mentioned in literary notices belonging to Puteoli. When Ca- 
ligula was ready to start upon his parade across his specially 
devised sea-bridge, he offered a sacrifice to Neptune and other 
gods as well as to Phthonios at the moment before he set out 
for Bauli to begin his triumphal march. Perhaps the sacrifice 
to Neptune was offered in his temple (4). De Iorio implies 
that Augustus sacrificed here before going against Sex. Pom- 

(1) Cic. ac. II, 80: O praeclarum prospectum! Puteolos uidemus, at 
familiarem nostrum C. Auianum fortasse in porticu Neptuni ambulantem non 
uidemus. 

(2) De Iorio, Guida di Pozzuoli (2) 43. Loffredo, Le antichM di Poz- 

zuolo 7. 

(3) Beloch 134; Dubois, 133 and Milanges XXII (1902) 25. 

(4) Dio Cassius LIX, 17, 4. 

- 107 - 



pey, but Appian says that the libations were poured into the 
water (1). 

While these evidences point to a worship of the god con- 
ceived of in the Greek fashion as the sea-god Poseidon, it is 
probable that in earlier times he was worshipped as Neptune, 
a god of springs, along with the Nymphs (2). There would 
therefore be two main sources for his cult, which doubtless 
flourished accordingly in this locality. A freedman of the city 
L. Iunius Puteolanus was devoted to this god and made him 
a dedication in southern Spain (3). 

HERCULES. 

The legends of Hercules, which were associated with so 
many points along this coast, may have arrived first in the 
Rhodian settlement at Neapolis, borne by men of the same 
nationality from) the vicinity of Croton. The myth of the 
cattle theft became most easily localized around this city, 
because of the presence of the numerous warm springs which 
had already figured in the older Argive version of this 
theme (4). Hercules appears but once in the epigraphical ma- 
terial coming from this city. A brief dedication belonging to 
the Republican period, which was unearthed near the Sol- 
fatara, records the manumission of a libertinus C. Marcius 
Alexander. He had made a vow to the god, while still a slave, 
and paid this with gratitude after he received his freedom (5). 
Cosenza has affirmed the existence of a Hercules temple, here 
as in other places, without evidence (6). 

(1) De Iorio, Guida 43; Corcia, Atti Nap. II, 172; Appian. b. civ. V* 

98: b bk KaCaap sx Atxatapxsia^ Outov apta xod aTcsvdeov and %r\$ vauapx^S 
vscbc, eg zo TcsXayoc dvdjxoig e08fot,g xai 'Aa^aXeCq) Ilooeioffivi %al dxufiam OaXocaa^. 

(2) von Domaszewski, Neptunus auf lateinischen Inschriften in r Ah- 
handl. zur rom. Rel. 19. 

(3) C. /. L. II, 1944 from Fuengirola (Suel) = D. 6914. 

(4) Gruppe, Berl Phil Wochenshr. XXXI (191!) 1003. See p. \5. 

(5) C. /. L. X, 1569 = D. 3427 = Vaglieri 1086: Herculei sacrum. C. Marci 
C. 1. Alex, fecit; seruos uouit, liber soluit. Herculei sacrum. C. Marci. C. 1. 

Alex. dat. 

(6) Cosenza, Stabia, 120 (2). See p. 232. 

- 108 - 



VENUS. 

A dedication to Venus included in the collection of Fusco 
as belonging to Puteoli survives in a badly mutilated condi- 
tion. A second fragment, which mentions this goddess along 
with other divinities, is included by Dubois in his evidence 
for this cult, but its origin is wholly unknown (1). A roof- 
tile, however, which was discovered here, contained the words 
Venerus Heme, a strange mark for such an object, as these 
were generally signed with the maker's name (2). On account 
of the orthography and the form Venerus, the tile must be 
assigned to the period of the Roman republic, probably to the 
era immediately following the Hannibalic War. It evidently 
contains an allusion to the celebrated Venus of Mt. Eryx in 
Sicily. The cult may have reached Puteoli directly from Sicily 
through the ordinary channels of trade, as suggested by Du- 
bois, but it may well have been introduced, and was at least 
fostered by Roman influence (3). We know that the first 
Roman temple in honor of this Venus was vowed in 217 B. C. 
and dedicated within two years, and that the goddess became 
extremely popular in Rome (4). Hence there is every indi- 
cation that the cult was promoted chiefly by the Roman colo- 
nists who came to Puteoli during the first great wave of that 
deity's popularity. For a Venus Cuppedinaria, who was the 
patron deity of a supposed Forum with a similar epithet, there 
is no evidence whatever (5). Statues of Venus found in this 
locality have an artistic rather than a religious interest (6). 

AESCULAPIUS AND HYGIA. 

A shrine in honor of Aesculapius and his companion deity 
Hygia (Salus or Valetudo) undoubtedly stood at Puteoli. It 
was one of the Greek cults of the early period rather than a 

(1) C. /. L. X, 1595: A. Comananus Ou(ii) f. Veneri d. <3. C. I. L X 
1605. Cp. Dubois 142. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 8042 (J). It no longer exists. 

(3) Dubois, loc. cit; De Sanctis, Storia dei Romani I, 200 (3). 

(4) Preller-Jordan I, 151; Wissowa 290 and Ges. Abhandl. 9. 

(5) Garucci, Bull Nap. V (1846) 114; Dubois, Milanges XXII (1902) 
33 (5). 

(6) Dubois, Pouzzoles antique Cat, p. 417, No. 13; 14. 

- 109 - 



late importation under Roman influence as stated by Miss 
Walton (I). Here were many mineral springs, recommended 
as specifics for numerous maladies to which the sick and in- 
firm resorted from all directions. Such persons were naturally 
interested in the god of healing; to him they offered up their 
prayers, and if healed by any agency were wont to acknowl- 
edge the beneficent intervention of the god. Unfortunately 
the inscriptions that prove a cult of Aesculapius and Hygia 
in the region around the Bay of Naples are not always of cer- 
tain origin. The only one in fact which can be attributed to 
this city with any degree of assurance is a short dedication in 
Greek, discovered according to report near the church of 
S. Francesco (2) . It is due to one Protogenes and is addressed 
to both deities. Two other inscriptions may be briefly mentioned 
here, although it is not certain that they were connected with 
this city. Both exhibit the serpent as a symbol of the god, 
in one case it appears as a sculptured relief accompanying the 
inscription, in the other the inscription is itself written upon 
a bronze serpent. In both is seen the name of a physician Cal- 
listus, who in the first example is associated with a Greek 
woman. In one case the Greek name of the goddess is em- 
ployed; in the second it has been translated by Salus (3). 
The collegium salutare, which is found in one inscription, is 
not a sacred organization connected with the worship of Hygia- 
Salus but a burial society (4). The god Aesculapius is rep- 
resented by a colossal statue unearthed in the excavations near 
the amphitheater (5). 

(1) A. Walton, The Cult of A$klepioa in Cornell Studies III (1894) 119. 

(2) /. G. XIV, 832= C. /. G. 5854; 'AaxX^mcp xat 'Xjicf e&xapio«u©(v) 
np(OXOY£VY]g.Tramer, AsTtfepios, P.-W. II, 1676 rightly recognizes only the above 

Greek inscription as exemplifying the cult here. Dubois, Pouzzoles antique 138 
assigns without reason to Puteoli also the two Latin inscriptions mentioned 
below. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 1546=Vaglieri 1023: Aelia Nice et Callistus medicus. 
Asclepio et Hygeiae donu posuerunt. C. /. L. X, 1547: Asclepio et Saluti sa- 
crum ex uoto Callistus d. Cp. Liv. perioch. XI; Hubner Antike Bildwerke in 
Madrid 208, No. 466; Vaglieri, Aesculapius, Ruggiero I, 316; Axtell, The 
Deification of Abstract Ideas in Roman Literature and Inscriptions 15. 

(4) C. /. L. X, 1588 = D. 7388= Vaglieri 2331. 

(5) Dubois, Pouzzoles antique catalogue 417. No. 11. 

~ 110 - 



NYMPHS. 

Other divinities worshipped at the abundant mineral 
springs were the Nymphs. Pliny, speaking on the subject of 
springs, says that the deities of these with their various names 
increase the total number of gods, and gives Puteoh as an 
example of this tendency; he fails, however, to cite any of the 
names. Dubois thinks that one of them was consecrated to 
Silvanus and another to the Sun and the Moon, but this as- 
sumption rests upon no real evidence (1). The Nymphs are 
mentioned in one inscription whose origin is undisputed, - 
a dedication associated with the gift of a woman Ducenia 
Tyche, another assigned by Mommsen to Ischia and by Beloch 
to this city speaks of the same divinities under the form Lym- 
phae (2). The provenience of the latter is unknown, but the 
' second attribution seems preferable because of the fact that 
the dedicator A. Auianius Cilo is mentioned in another in- 
scription that came from Puteoli (3). 

The Nymphs were doubtless worshipped at several spots 
which were considered sacred to them because of the presence 
of springs. One of them has been recorded, - a cave along the 
sea-shore which Beloch would locate near the western end of 
town beyond the Balneum Faustinae (4). This cave is men- 
tioned in the narration of a miraculous incident in the life of 
Apollonius of Tyana. While the noted philosopher and ma- 
gician was imprisoned by Domitian, his friends and disciples 
Darius and Demetrius were discussing his fate as they walked 
along the beach at Puteoli. Entering finally into a shrine of 
the Nymphs, they continued in conversation and after a time 
marvelled to find their beloved teacher who had some diffi- 
culty to persuade them that he was still alive (5). De Iorio 

(1) Plin. nat. XXXI, 4: Augent numerura deorum nominibus uariis ur- 
bisque condunt, sicut Puteolos in Campania. Dubois 138, 402 (2). Cp. Amm. 
XXVIII, 4, 19. 

(2) C. 1. L. X, 1592: Nymphis Ducenia A. f. Tyche d. d. ; C /. L. X, 

6791 : A. Auianius Cilo Lymphis u. s. I. m. 

(3) C P . C. /. L. X, 2133. 

(4) Beloch 137. 

(5) Philostratus, Vita Apoll. Tyan. VIII, 11 : &rcewcdvx$s oiW £%d9Y)VXO ig %b 

vojicpawv iv $ b wtOoc,, Xeuxoo 8' otkog £cm XiGoo £uv£xa>v w^v oSaxog oW 
GuepgdXXouoav tou oxojxCou oita', e't xte, ditavxXoCKj, uitoStdouaav etc. 

- Ill . 



believed that they had a regular temple in the vicinity of Ci- 
cero's villa provided with an abundance of water. He de- 
voted considerable space in attempting to identify it with 
scanty ruins west of Puteoli beyond the supposed location of 
Neptune's temple; but evidence for such a building is want- 
ing (1). 

BONA DEA. 

The name Bona Dea is now supposed to have been ap- 
plied originally to the Roman Flora and later to have been 
transferred to the Greek cult of Damia, which came to Rome 
from Tarentum and supplanted for the most part the earlier 
worship (2) . This cult, which was most prominent in Latium, 
existed to some extent in Puteoli where it is attested by one 
and possibly by two inscriptions. The one, whose origin is 
undisputed, is unfortunately badly mutilated (3). The second 
inscription, which is carved upon a pedestal, may be men- 
tioned here, although it is not certain to what city it belonged. 
It records the gift to the goddess of an image donated by a 
contractor C. Auillius December and his common law wife 
Vellia Cinnamis. A freedman of the Emperor, Claudius Phi- 
ladespotus is named as priest. But he did not serve Bona Dea 
herself, as she, was always attended by women ; instead he 
seems to have been connected with the temple of another god, 
where the image in question was set up. The inscription bears 
the date of 62 B. C, and conforms to the principle that in 
this cult a woman makes the offering, or is at least associated 
with it except in the case of men of low social standing (4). 

The question arises whether this cult was in existence 



(1) De Iorio, Guida (2) 48; Paoli, Antiquitatum reliquiae Fol. 26, PI. XL. 

(2) Wissowa 216 and Bona Dea, P.-W. Ill, 686 f. Cp. FarneH III, 101 ; 
de Guidobaldi, Damia o bona dea 2 f., 87. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 1548: Bonae D( )sacru(m. 

(4) C. /. L. X, 1549 == Vaglieri 1030: C. Auillius December redemptor mar* 
morarius Bonae D'ae cum Vell'a Cinnamide cont(ubernali) u. s. 1. m., Clau- 
d ; o Aug. L Philadespoto sacerdote, posita, dedicata VI Kal. Nouembris, Q. 
Iunio Marullo cos. Dubois 143 (6) reads coni(uge?). Vaglieri, Bona Dea, Rug- 
giero I, 1014. 

- 112 . 



here before the arrival of the Roman colony (1). For the most 
part, as already suggested, the cult was confined to central 
Italy particularly to Latium and to a number of localities far- 
ther north such as Aquileia, so that it seems not to have been 
generally introduced by the Roman settlers, or at least not to 
have made much headway in the South. Its appearance at 
Puteoli is probably due in the first place to the influence of 
Tarentum through the channels of trade. When the Romans 
arrived, they recognized in the goddess of Puteoli the same 
Bona Dea with whom they were already familiar at Rome 
and whose cult was administered with Greek observances. 

MINOR DEITIES. 

Hephaestus- Vulcan would naturally receive appropriate 
recognition in a place where signs of volcanic activity existed 
on every hand, and was probably associated with several 
places along this shore. Here he was connected more partic- 
ularly with the volcanic crater known as the Solfatara, which 
Strabo names the « Forum of Hephaestus » and Ioannes Ly- 
dus calls his « plain ». Alluding to the same deity, Silius 
speaks of the rumbling of Mulciber in this region (2). But 
there is no evidence for a regularly organized worship with 
a temple, nor for a festival, such as was celebrated at A- 
thens (3). Farnell wrongly attributes to Cumae the notice of 
Strabo just cited as evidence for a cult there (4). 

There are slight indications for a cult of Castor and Pol- 
lux. According to the sketch preserved upon the so called 
vase of Odemira in the Museum of Lisbon, there were two 
statues close to the harbor representing youths grasping a 



(1) Cp. Dubois 143 and Melanges XXII (1902) 34. 

(2) Strab. V, 4, 6 : uTcspxstxat, ds zr\% tc6Xsu)£ soOug % too 'HcpaCoxoo ayo pa. 

Ioannes Lydus, De mensibus IV, 115. 

Sil. XII, 140: son'tu lugubre minaci 

Mulciber immugit lacerataque uiscera terrae 

mandit et exesos labefactat murmure montis. 
Cp. Preller-Robert 181; Rapp, Hephaistos, Roscher I, 2073; Wssowa, Mul- 
ciber, Roscher II, 3224: Picard, Vulcanm, D.-S. V, 991. 

(3) Fainell V, 377 f . ; Preller-Robert 180. 

(4) Farnell V, 395 (20c). 

- 113 - 



spear, which have been identified as images of the great Twin 
Brethren (1). The Dioscuri similarly portrayed have been 
found upon coins, and according to reliefs upon the column 
of Trajan seem also to have stood at the entrance to the har- 
bor of Ancona (2). But the presence of such figures is an ev- 
idence for a custom of adorning ancient harbors in a particular 
way rather than a proof for the existence of a real cult. The 
representation of the statues at Puteoli is accompanied by 
stars, which Dubois considers as another reference to the 
Dioscuri. He also advances the theory that this vase was a 
talisman borne by seamen or merchants to insure immunity 
from disaster and a safe and prosperous voyage (3). 

Mercury is named in one inscription due to the society of 
retiarii, but the meaning is not altogether clear (4). Generally 
the term retiarii refers to one of the important classes of gladia- 
tors, who made a large use of nets in their combats in the arena. 
But as Mercury is not usually thought of as a patron of gladia- 
tors but rather as a promoter of business and commercial pros- 
perity, Dubois explains the word as a reference to a body of 
men engaged in the manufacture and sale of nets (5). There 
is no improbability, however, in understanding the dedication 
as due to gladiators, who had some reason for honoring this 
god, especially since they were probably joined with another 
society whose name has been lost (6). The inscription is a care- 

(1) Cp, the money of Nuceria discussed below p. 293. Albert, he culte 
de Castor ei Pollux catalogue 143 Nos. 115, 121, 122; Dubois, 198. One of 
the figures holds possibly a trident or a scepter instead of a spear. Cp. Du- 
bois 198 (2). 

(2) Strong, Roman Sculpture 187 and PI. LVI ; Cichorius, Die Reliefs 
der Trajansdule III, 22; Cp. Taylor, The Cults of Ostia 26. But Reinach *n- 
terprats the two figures as Hercules and Palaemon-Portunus, Ret?, arch. V, 
(1905) 402, where a summary of the opinions of Benndorf, Studniczka and 
Frohner appears. 

(3) Dubois, Pottzzoles antique 199 (4). 

(4) C. /. L. X, 1589 = 1, 1234 = VagIieri 1 155: Merc(urio) retiari[ ]dan- 

(dum) mag(istri) curarunt. Six names follow. Mommsen C. /. L. X, p. 1163, 
index, under the heading magistri says, magistri quinque retiariorum, but 

there is evidence for six names. The supplement merc(atores) instead of Merc- 
(curio) W as advocated by Garrucci, Bull Nap, V (1847) 114. Cp. Walzing, 
Etude hist, sur les corp. prof. IV, 117. 

(5) Dubois, Milanges XXII (1902) 33 (5). Cp. Forceilini, Lexicon V. 218. 

(6) Walzing, op. cit. I, 89. 

- 114 - 



less piece of work, coarse and uncouth befitting men of the 
arena. A second inscription, assigned by Mommsen to Puteoli, 
has been treated in the preceding chapter (I). 

A cult of Diana Lochia has been attributed by Dubois to 
Puteoli (2). But, although the inscription recording this goddess 
has been included by Mommsen among those belonging to 
Puteoli, there is no proof that this was its place of origin, and 
it might equally well be assigned with Capasso to Neapolis. A 
considerable ruin still standing on the east side of the Via del- 
VAnfiteatro has received the name Tempio di Diana because 
of the belief that a statue of her was found here (3). But consid- 
erable doubt exists about the identity of this work, which may 
have been intended for Magna Mater. Furthermore, other 
remains discovered in the same place point to the use of the 
structure for other purposes (4). There is really no clue to 
its identity. 

As in other Campanian cities it is evident that Dionysus- 
Bacchus must have been honored and his mysteries celebrated. 
But the only references to the god are not concerned with a 
Greek cult but with one which had lost its Hellenic character 
under the influence of the Orientalism in its environment. They 
will, therefore, receive attention in another place (5). Statues 
and busts of Bacchus excavated in this locality are without 
religious significance (6). The same remark will apply to 
statues of other gods such as Silvanus. 

Juno Gaura, the divinity of Mt. Gaurus behind the city, 
must be considered as a goddess of Puteoli only during the 
later era, after this territory became a part of the city's domain. 
As the place where she was worshipped was earlier subject to 
Capua, she will be treated in the chapter devoted to that 



(1) See p. 72. 

(2) Dubois, Pouzzoles antique 142. See p. 397. 

(3) Beloch 140; Dubois 359; Paoli, Antiquitatum reliquiae Fol. 21, PI. 
XXIX, XXVII; De Iorio, Guida di Pozzuoli (2) 64. 

(4) De Iorio, Guida 48; LofFredo, he antichita di Pozzuolo 8; Paoli, Antiq* 
rel Fol. 21. 

(5) See p. 143. 

(6) Dubois, Pouzzoles antique catalogue 416 Nos. 6-8; 17; 18. 

- TI5 - 



city (I). An inscription in honor of all the gods and goddesses 
was set up by T. Aurelius Protogenes. Here the polytheistic 
tendency is strongly manifested, although the dedicator takes 
the easiest means of showing his devotion to the multiplicity 
of divinities whom he recognizes. There is no trace of a syn- 
cretistic tendency (2). 

ROMAN CULTS - OFFICIAL PRIESTS 

The evidence is comparatively good here for the presence 
of the official municipal priests of the Roman colony. A certain 
individual whose cognomen was Marcellus, mentioned in an 
inscription of doubtful origin may have held the pontificate. 
This possibility is admissible, because he belonged to the tribe 
Falernia and served as a flamen of the Diuus Augustus, who 
had a strong cult, but such evidence by no means establishes 
his connection with this city (3). There is likewise a proba- 
bility that the pontifex Iulius Flauianus belonged here. He is 
recorded as assigning a plot of ground to a woman for whom 
he acted as patron, in order that she might erect there a tomb 
for her son (4). Although the altar containing the notice came 
to light at Puteoli,it was attributed to Misenum by Mommsen, 
because at the former place public grants of this nature were 
made by the duumuiri, while at Misenum there is a possibility 
that they were made by the pontiff on the analogy of the pon- 
tifex Vulcani et aedium sacrarum at Ostia. But it seems more 



(1) Corcia maintained that a temple of Juno Pronuba was located here, 
but the inscrption mentioning this goddess is not considered to be authentic. 
C. /. L. X. 192*. 

(2) Macchioro, // sincretismo religioso e Vepigrafia in Ret?. Arch, series 
IV, IX (1907) 141 f. C. /. L. X, 1552; Diis immortalibus deabusque omnibus 
sacrum. T. Aurel(ius) Protogenes. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 1806-Vaglieri 1900: onio Sex. f. Fal. Musculo, ponti- 

fici, flam(ini) Diui Aug. praef. fabr. quaest. Huir(o) bis, tert. quinq. 1. d. d. d. 
etc. The index of C. /. L. X, p. 1150 under Puteoli is misleading as it assigns 
this official definitely to Puteoli. For a discussion of the tribes in which the 
citizens of this community were enrolled see Dubois, Pouzzoles antique 58 f. 
(4) C. /. L. X, 3458 = D. 2856 = Vaglieri 1762 : D. m. s. T. A. Lon- 
giniano optioni ex III Venere cl. pr. Mis. luiia Rufina mater; locus datua est 
a pontif(ice) lulio Flauiano patrono. 

- 116 - 



probable that this pontifex who was the woman's patron, made 
the assignment of a piece of ground owned by himself in his 
private capacity. Consequently his liberality is recorded in full 
by her at the close of her son's epitaph. 

The number of augurs here is unknown but was perhaps 
three or six. A fragmentary inscription commemorates the 
selection of a iuuenis Marius Sedatus as augur by the decu- 
rions (1). It has been assigned to the second century A. D. 
and is valuable for proving that the election of the official 
priests had changed in the provincial towns as in Rome. They 
were no longer selected at comitia, but were appointed by the 
local senate (2). De Petra plausibly considers that this is not 
an ordinary case of filling a vacancy, since there is no mention 
of the former incumbent, but is a selection extra numerum as 
a mark of appreciation. At the same time the new appointee 
seems to have exercised the full authority of his position (3). 
But in this case the inscription would not be good evidence for 
the mode of filling the position when vacancies occurred in the 
regular way. Another occupant of the office was the distin- 
guished eques M. Gauius Fabius Iustus, who flourished in the 
latter half of the second century A. D. (4). To the same century" 
belongs the famous actor L. Aurelius Pylades, already mention- 
ed in connection with the cult of Apollo, who is named in 
an inscription that falls between the years 185-192. This is the 
only known example where the office of augur was committed 
to a freedman, and is a signal proof of this man's great pop- 
ularity (5). 



(1) N. S. 1885, 431 =E. E. VIII, 372=Vaglieri 1888: De Petra, Frammento 
di decreto puieolano in Atti Nap. XII (1885) 63 f. 

(2) Cp. the lex Coloniae Iuliae Genitiuae; Spinazzo^a, Gli auguies 120. 

(3) De Petra, op. cit. 66. 

(4) C. I. L. X, 1785 = D. 6333 = VagIieri 1685. For the date cp. C. /. L. X, 
1784. 

(5) N. S. 1888, 237 = £. £. VIII, 369 = D. 5186=Vaglieri 1895: L. Aurelio 
Aug. lib. Pyladi, pantomino temporis sui primo, hieronicae coronato IIII, pa- 
trono parasitorum Apollinis, sacerdoti synhodi, honorato Puteolis d. d. orna- 
mentis decurionalibus et duumuiralib(us), auguri, ob amorem erga patriam 
et eximiam liber alitatem in edendo munere gladiatorum uenatione passiua 
ex indulgentia sacratissimi princip. Commodi Pii Felicia Aug. centuria Cor- 
nelia. Cp. Mommsen, Rom. Mitt. Ill, (1888) 82; Wissowa, Augures, P.-W. II, 

- 117 - 



JUPITER OPTIMUS MAXIMUS 

The formal cult of Jupiter Optimus Maximus flourished 
at Puteoli after the establishment of the Roman colony. Here 
as elsewere it was an evidence of the attachment of the colo- 
nists to the Roman state, and before the rise of the cult of the 
Emperors was the chief factor in the expression of loyalty 
toward the government. It was essentially a form of the religion 
of patriotism, and was a community cult rather than one that 
appealed to the individual, although dedications made by 
single private individuals have been found in this very place. 
Thus a marble fragment discovered in 1 893 south of the amphi- 
theater contains part of a dedication due to a freedman Gra- 
tus (1). Some work of building or restoring was performed 
for the god probably at this time by N. Cluuius, a man of pro- 
minence in the province, who filled municipal offices at Capua, 
Nola, and Caudium (2). A third inscription, belonging to 
the year 56 A. D., records the performance of games by the 
Augustales in honor of Nero and his mother, where the deities 
recognized are Jupiter Optimus Maximus and the Genius of the 
colony (3). 

GENIUS 

The notion of a personal Genius, which showed itself so 
prominently among the Romans, appears but once in the extant 
epigraphical material; this is a brief dedication announcing 

2344; Miiller, Philologus LXIII (1904) 351; Spinazzola, Gli augures 136. 
Another augur, mentioned in an inscription of uncertain origin, possibly serv- 
ed in this town. C. /. L. X, 1685. 

(1) 'A. J. A. 2nd ser. II (1898) 374: ] 1. Gratus I. O. M. sacrum. Inac- 
curately reproduced by Dubois 144 (2). 

(2) C. /. L. X, 1573 (cp. p. 971) = D. 6345 :N.j Cluuius M\ f. IHIuir Caudj 
Iluir Nolae, IHIuir quinquennal. Capuae de suo faciund(um) coerauit, idem- 
que restituit; Ioui O. M. sacr. Cp. Dubois 51. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 1574 = D. 226=Vaglieri 1114: Q. Volusio Saturn. P. Cor- 
nelio Scip. cos. Augustales qui (Neroni) Claudia Caesarii et (Agrippinae) Au- 
gustae I. O. M. et Genio Coloniae Iudos fecer(unt) etc. The words Nero and 
Agrippina have been erased. The origin of this inscription is doubtful. Its 
assignment to Puteoli in consequence of the mention of the Genius is prob- 
able but not certain. Cp. Dubois, op. cit. 40 (1). 

- 118 - 



the payment of a vow by M. Annius Macer (1). This idea de- 
veloped easily into the conception that each city and individual 
community had its particular Genius. The worship of this 
guardian spirit on the part of the inhabitants of Puteoli became 
an easy method of showing their unity of sentiment and pa- 
triotic interest in their town. While this cult is found sporadi- 
cally elsewhere in Campania, it became here a form of religion 
of much greater importance (2). As a vigorous cult, it kept its 
individuality distinct from that of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, 
when both were used together in inscriptions, but tended to 
merge and coalesce with the worship of the Emperor and of 
the Sun. The regular designation of this deity is Genius Coloniae 
Puteolanorum. The Genius honored seems to be that of the 
old colony, since one inscription bears the date of 56 A. D., 
seven years before Nero sent out his colony (3). 

Besides the combination with Jupiter treated above, a brief 
fragment, there are extant /several more important inscrip- 
tions (4); so far as these are dated they belong to the second 
century A. D. A pedestal exhibits a dedication to the Genius 
in the interest of the Emperors Antoninus Pius and Marcus 
Aurelius. It bears the name of an Imperial slave who had 
charge of the largesses of grain which were given to the people 
of Puteoli and Ostia (5). Likewise to enhance the well being 
of the ruling family a seuir Augustalis Q. Aurelius Hermadion, 
who was evidently of foreign birth, made a joint offering to the 
Genius of Puteoli, specified as « a great god » and to that of 
his native land (6). The association of the Genius with the 

(1) C. /. L. X, 1559: Genio uotum soluit anim(o) lib(ens) M. Annius Macer. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 1574 Cp. Dubois, Milanges XXII (1902) 37 and Pouzzoles 

antique 39-40. 

(3) A list of inscriptions referring to the Genii of various localities both 
in and outside of Campania is found in Cesano, Genius, Ruggiero 11 469, 

(4) C. I. L. X, 1565: Gen. Col. Put. P. Acilius Hermeros. C. /. L. A, 

(5) C I L X 1562 = D. 344: Pro salute imp. Caesaris Titi Aelii Hadriani 
Antonini Aug. Pii 'p. P- et M. Alii (sic) Aureli Caesaris n(ostri) Genio colo- 
niae Puteolanorum, Chrysanthus, Aug. disp(ensator) a fruminto (sic) Puteohs 
et Ostis, 1. d. decurionum permissu. 

(6) C I L.X, 1567=Vaglieri 1073: Pro salute et uictoria Augustorum deo 
magno Genio coloniae Puteolanorum et patriae suae Q. Aurelius Hermadion, 
seuir Augustalis et curator eorum extruxit et donum dat. For the interpreta- 
tion see Mommsen's note. 

- 119 - 



Imperial household i9 stated still more explicitly in an inscription 
prepared for one of the Imperial Ubertini; although he made 
the dedication nominally to the Genius, he described himself 
as devoted to the divinity of his patron (I). Especially conspic- 
uous is the zeal manifested by members of the gens Nemonia. 
Two of the Nemonii, M. Tugurinus and M. Sabinus Felix 
joined in ordering an inscription, which formerly existed upon 
a sculptured pedestal. In a second inscription, which is dated 
168 A. D. four members of the same family participated 1 , includ- 
ing M. Nemonius Eutychianus, who will appear again as 
priest of an Oriental cult ; in fact they seem as a family to have 
had a somewhat eclectic interest in religion. Both of their 
inscriptions address the Genius as sanctissimus deus (2). 
Finally the cult of the Genius is brought into relation with that 
of Fortuna as often elsewhere in a dedication made by a certain 
Ptolemais, who under her mother's direction offered to him an 
image of that goddess (3). 

An inscription attesting the diffusion of the cult by means 
of the extensive commercial relations of Puteoli was discov- 
ered at Rusicade (Philippeville) a seaport of the ancient province 
of Numidia. This whole region was colonized by Campanians 
and the town Veneria Rusicade took its name from Pompeii (4). 
Naturally these people did not forget the peculiar divinities of 
their native land, so it is not surprising to find here a dedication 
in which the cult of the Genius appears. In accordance with the 
tendency of the times it was affected by the cult of the Emper- 
ors (5). As an evidence of the high esteem in which this cult 

(1) £. E. VIII, 358 = Vaglieri 1074: M(agno) G(enio) col(oniae) Puteolan- 
(orum) M. Aurelius Hilario Aug. lib. numini huius deuotus d. d. d. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 1564 = Vaglieri 1072: Sanctissimo deo Genio coloniae Puteo- 
lanorum M. Nemoni M. fili Tugurinus et Sabinus Felix dono dant. C. /. L. 
X, 1563 = D. 6320 = Vaglieri 1071 : Sanctissimo deo Genio coloniae Puteolanorum 
Nemonia Calliste Nemoni L-utychet's cum duobus M. M. Nemonis M. filiis 
Eutychiano et Gemelliano fratribus suis et Nemonia Ianuaria filia sua dono 
dant etc. 

(3) C. /. L. X, !568 = Vaglieri 1069: Genio coloniae Puteolan(orum) sacr. 
Fortunam Ptolemais issa, curante Galeria Cyprogen : a matre. Otto, Fortuna, 
P.-W. VII, 32-33. 

(4) Pais, Ancient Italy 202 (3) and Ricerche storiche e geog. 254 (4). 

(5) C. /. L. VIII, 7959: Gen(io) col(oniae) Put(eolanorum) Aug(usto) sacr. 
The third word is completed to read Put(eolanae) by Wilmanns C. /. L., VIII 
p. 684, but the regular designation is as above. 

- 120 - 



was held, Otto conjectures that the mutilated fragment cited 
above was dated by means of a computation of time reckoned 
from the dedication of the Genius of this city (\). The Genius 
amalgamated with Sol will be treated later (2). 

Another inscription mentions a Genius Alotianus, a term 
of uncextain significance." According to a conjecture of Steuding 
this term is to be associated with the term 'AXoma, applied to 
an athletic festival at Tegea in Arcadia in honor of a solar 
divinity (3). Although the god honored here is dubious, the piety 
of the dedicator is very evident. He describes himself as the 
servant of the gods, and he acted, as he thought, by a divine 
command which he received through the medium of a dream. 

Finally Dubois has cited a work of art as a possible rep- 
resentation of a Genius. This is a colossal herm found near 
Pozzuoli and now preserved in the Vatican Museum (4). Besides 
a number of characteristics plainly indicating a sea god, the 
head bears a wreath of grapes and vine leaves, which point 
to the connection of this deity with a coast where vineyards 
were abundant. The latter detail makes the identification of the 
figure as an ordinary sea god difficult, and recent critics of art 
have supposed that it is a personification of the Gulf of Poz- 
zuoli (5). Dubois states that it represents a sort of Genius of 
the port, but Weizsacker, rejecting all local identifications, sees 
only an image of Oceanus (6) . From the point of view of reli- 
gion the solution of the problem is not important, as the 
connection of the figure with this subject is very slight. 



. (1) Otto, Genius, P.-W. VII, 1168. 

(2) See p. 157. 

(3) Steuding, Alotianus Roscher I, 256, Cp. Ruggiero I, 424 and the 
etymology given by Paus. VIII, 47, 4, C. J. L. X, 1 560 = Vaglieri 1064: Ex 
imperio Geni Alotiani Euaristu3 seruitor deorum ex uiso lib(ens) an(imo). 

(4) Kept in the rotunda of the Museum. Reproduced in Baumeister, 
Denkmaler II, p. 913; Brunn, Gr. Gbtter-ideale PI. VI; Weizsacker, Ofceonos, 
Roscher HI, 818; Collignon, Hist, de la sculpt, grec. II, 589 No. 306; Lowy* 
Gr. Plastik PI. 158; Brunn-Bruckmann, No. 136. 

(5) Helbig, Fuhrer I, p. 197; Friederichs-Wolters, Die Gipshbgusse 
antiker Bildwerke, p. 613. 

(6) Weizsacker, Roscher HI. 819. 

- 121 - 



FORTUNA 

The inscriptions usually cited for the presence of this cult 
are not conclusive because of the uncertainty regarding their 
provenience, and the evidence for a shrine on the heights of 
Pausilypum will be treated under Neapolis (1). There is, 
however, little doubt that the goddess had her worshippers here 
after the city came under Roman influence, and two statues 
representing her came from this region. One, which afterwards 
disappeared, was unearthed in the fifteenth century; the other 
came to light within recent times. Both seem to have reproduced 
the same type, which exhibits the right hand of the image 
resting upon a steering-oar, the left holding a horn of plen- 
ty (2). A figure upon the Lisbon vase, standing in front of a 
temple and holding a patera and a cornucopia, was regarded by 
Jordan as a representation of Fortuna, but this identification is 
probably incorrect (3). 

HONOR 

A temple of Honor is known from the fact that it is men- 
tioned in the lex parieti faciendo, where a comparision is made 
between it and another structure (portula) which is to be erected, 
but no dedications addressed to the divinity have been pre- 
served (4). The ceremonies in this branch of religion were 
carried out according to the Greek ritual, as is proved by the 
circumstance that the Roman cult was of that character (5). 
The name Tempio di Onore has been given in modern times 
to the remains of a little temple located between the Anfiteatro 
and the baths that bear the name Tempio di Nettuno, but such 
a designation is quite uncertain. The character of the material 

(1) See p. 207. 

(2) Loffredo, Le antichith di Pozzuolo 8 ; N. S. 1898, 291 Fig. 3- Dubois 
415. 

(3) Jordan, Die Kiiste von Puteoli auf einem rom. Glasgefass in Arch. 
Zeit. XXVI (1868) 95. Cp. Dubois 195; Beloch 14Q. 

(4) C. /. L. X, 1781 Col. II line 11=C. /. L. I, 577 = Vaglieri 1883.... eis- 
dem fores clatratas II cum postibus aesculnieis facito, statuito, ocludito, pi- 
catoque, ita utei ad aedem Honorus facta sunt etc. 

(5) Wissowa 151; L. Deubner, Personifikationen, Roscher III, 2081. 

- 122 - 



used in the construction, brick work alone, shows that the 
building was put up too late to be the temple of Honor, which 
was in existence as early as 105 B. C, unless the present remains 
come from a restoration (1). This is the only example of a 
temple of this god outside of Rome which has left any record 
of its existence (2). 

MINOR ROMAN DEITIES 

The abstract deity Concordia is represented by one in- 
scription, prepared for two Augustales of the gens Auia, This 
cult, which is not cited elsewhere along the Bay of Naples, was 
doubtless brought into close relation with the worship of the 
Emperor. At the same time the existence of an individual shrine 
is not improbable (3). The Penates, meaning doubtless the 
gods of some household shrine, are mentioned on a marble 
slab discovered near the Via Campania (4). 

THE IMPERIAL CULT 

It has already been remarked that the cities of Campania 
were among the first in the western part of the Empire to accord 
divine honors to Augustus, and this was in part explained by 
the presence of a large non-Roman element in the popula- 
tion (5). Conditions for the rise of this worship were partic- 
ularly favorable at Puteoli, where the large number of foreign- 
ers, especially Asiatics, readily embraced the theory that the 
great ruler is divine, because such a conception was quite in 
accord with the beliefs and practices of their native land. The 
presence of the Asiatics is proved in particular by the well 
known pedestal of Puteoli, containing allusions in sculpture to 

(I) Belocli 139; Dubois 347. A plan of the ruins is found in De Iorio 
Guida (2) atlante Va. 

(2) Wissowa, Honos, Roscher I, 2708. 

(3) C. I. L. X, 1551=Vaglieri 1040: Concordiae sacrum. P. P. Aui Gal- 
linat. et Ceier Augustales. The nearest instances of the cult are in Latium 
Adiectum at Cora, Casinum, and Fabrateria Noua. C. /. L. X, 6508, 5159, 5574. 

(4) A. J. A. 1898, 375. 

(5) Dubois, Melanges XXII (1902) 39. See p. 35. 

- 123 



the chief cities of Asia Minor, which was set up and provided 
with a statue of Tiberius by the Augustales, because that Em- 
peror had generously aided these cities after the earthquake of 
17 A. D. (1). Here the divinities of the various localities are 
recognized by the presence of mural crowns (2). The number 
of freedmen seems to have been especially large, and many of 
them had become wealthy from business ventures; thus there 
was a favorable soil for the growth of the Augustales. The 
Alexandrians engaged in commerce from this port were very 
devoted to the Emperor and have left an enthusiastic expression 
of their feelings toward him whom they considered their espe- 
cial benefactor (3). He did not succeed, therefore, in restrain- 
ing the desire of all these people to treat him as a god during 
his lifetime on the same basis as Diuus Iulius, and it is not 
improbable that this was the first city in the West to supply 
him with a temple and complete machinery for a cult (4). 
As generally in southern Italy the cult was in charge of 
the sacred collegium of the Augustales (5). The term seuir 
Augustalis is very rare, but occurs once or possibly twice in 
inscriptions which may be definitely attributed to Puteoli (6). 
We have no information to explain the relation which existed 
here between the seuiri and the Augustales. When the organi- 
zation acted as a whole, its official name was merely Augustales, 
as appears on the large pedestal designed to hold the statue of 
Tiberius (7). It is not certain that the term corporati was in use 
here, as the notice containing it may have come from Mise- 



(I) Dubois, Pouzzoles antique 104; Spinazzola, La base figurata di Ti~ 
berio in Atti Nap. XXII (1902) 119 f. Pis. 1-3. 
(2) Wissowa, Ges. Abhandl. 21 (2). 

(3) Suet. Aug. 98; Gardthausen, Augustus und seine Zeit I, 1266. 

(4) Spinazzola, Atti Nap. XXII (1902) 133-134. 

(5) Von Premerstein, Augustales, Ruggiero I, 859 gives a list of the in- 
scriptions alluding to the Augustales but it contains some doubtful examples. 
Cp. Dubois, Pouzzoles antique 146 f. and Melanges XXII (1902) 38; Neumann, 
Augustales, P.-W .II, 2356; IVWlot, Essai sur Uhistoire de VAugustaliti, 65; 
von Premerstein, Ruggiero I, 829. 

(6) C. /, L. X, 1567; 1838, A fragment. See p. 119. 

(7) C. /. L. X, 1624 = Vaglieri 1264: Ti, Caesari Diui Augusti f., Diui 
Iuli n. Augusto pontif. maximo, cos. Ill, imp. VIII trib. potestat. XXXII. 
Augustales. Res publica restituit. (30 /\. D.). 

- 124 - 



num (1). When the members are mentioned separately, they 
style themselves occasionally Augustales with the addition of 
the name of the city, but more often the qualifying word is 
omitted, if they do not hold the same position in another 
town (2). A considerable number of inscriptions allude to a 
double membership. Thus Sex. Publicius Bathyllus filled the 
same office at Venafrum; M. Antonius Trophimus at Neapolis, 
and Q. Valerius Salutaris and L. Caecilius Dioscorus at Cumae 
as well as at Puteoli (3). 

The flourishing condition of the collegium and the large 
number of its members are proved by the circumstance that it 
was divided into centuries, a condition of affairs for which no 
exact parallels can be found (4). Two centuries are known, 
the Petronia and the Cornelia, the names of which according 
to Waking were derived from centurions of those bodies (5). 
De Ruggiero appears to suppose that there were a larger number 
of centuries than the two whose names are extant; but as five 
notices of these divisions of the Augustales have reached us, 
all of which mention only one or the other of the two names, 
it is evident that the number of divisions was limited to 
two (6). They were in existence from a very early date, as the 
centuria Petronia is mentioned in an inscription that has been 
assigned to the life time of Augustus and they were present as 
late as the reign of Commodus (7). 

The collegium was composed wholly or chiefly of libertini, 

(1) C. /. L. X, 1880, 188!, Cp. 1870. 

(2) With the qualification C. /. L. X, 1807, 1873 and perhaps the frag- 
ment 1892; without the qualifying word X, 1877, 1879, 1551, N. S. 1902, 381 
and perhaps the fragment X, 1876. 

(3) C. /. L. X 1889, 1872, 690; N. S. 1897, 12. Cp. von Premerstein, Rug- 

g : ero I, 841. 

(4) C. /. L. X, 1873 = D. 6331: A. Arrius Chrysanthus marmorarius Augu- 
sta!. Puteolis duppliciar. 7Petron. uiuus sibi; C. /. L. X, 8178: Aug(usto) aacr. 
centuria Petronia; X, 1874: C. Caesonio Endiacono patri cultor. 7 Cornel, ob 
merita eius ; X, 1888: L. Plutius Eutychio iuncta scholis 7 Petr[on. E. E. 

VIII, 369. See p. 117 (5). 

(5) Waking, Etude hist, sur les corp. prof. I, 360 (5); Dubois, 146; von 
Premerstein, Ruggiero, I, 834. 

(6) Cenfario Ruggiero, II, 189. 

(7) C. /. L. X, 8178 = Vaglieri 1247. Cp. Mommaen's note and von Pre- 
merstein, Ruggiero I, 834. 

" - 125 - 



who had acquired considerable wealth and had attained some 
standing in their community, but only occasionally do they 
state publicly their social status (1). As members of an asso- 
ciation which had a distinct public character they were chosen 
by the decurions (2). Their occupations are in some cases 
known. Thus M. Antonius Trophimus was a dealer in clothing, 
A. Arrius Chrysanthus worked in marble, Cn. Haius Dorypho- 
rus, who perhaps belonged elsewhere, was a manufacturer of 
dye-stuffs, while Sex. Publicius Bathyllus held the position of 
magistrate's assistant (accensus) (3). Occasionally we find in 
this city Augustales, who although freedman, apparently 
reached the higher civic offices, a combination which is difficult 
to explain. Thus Q. Aemilius Helpidephorus is recorded as 
beihg a decurion, although he did not surely live in this town, 
and Q. Laecanius Philumenus filled the office of quaestor (4). 
It is possible that the latter was only quaestor of the Augustales, 
but it is doubtful whether this office existed here; likewise in 
the case of the former the term decurion may be only the equiv- 
alent of the customary phrase ornamentis decurionalihus hono~ 
ratus, or as Mommsen suggested the holder of the two offices 
may have been an ingenuus, for in northern Italy men of this 
class sometimes served as both Seuiri Augustales and decurions. 
But since he served as a dendrophorus the status of libertinus 
is more probable. In fact the leading municipal offices in cer- 
tain colonies outside of Italy were filled by libertini and here 

(1) C. /. L. X, 1878. 

(2) Von Premerstein, Ruggiero I, 835; But cp. Mourlot, op. cii. 89 and 
the fragment C. /. L. X, 1890 which indicates adlectio. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 1872: M. Antonius Trophimus August. Puteol. et Neapoli 
negotiator sagarius sibi et Iuliae Irene coniugi ec. ; C. I. L. X, 1873: X, 
1889: Sex. Publicius Bathyllus accensus consuli Augustalis Puteoli3 et Ve- 

nafri sibi et Vrnineiae uxori etc.; X, 540: Cn. Haio Doryphoro purpurario 

August, duplicario uixit etc. The last inscription was found in the district 
of Salernum, yet on account of the appearance of the term duplicarius it may 
have belonged here. Perhaps th's man was at one time a resident of Puteoli, 
and later moved away. For the occupations of the Augustales in other towns 
see von Premerstein, Ruggiero I, 841. 

(4) C. /. L. X, 1790 = D.6332: D. m. Q. Aemilio Helpidephoro decur(ioni) 
et dendrophoro duplic(ario) qui uixit etc. The term duplicarius makes the 
assignment to Puteoli probable. N. S. 1902, 381 : Diis manibus C. Laecani 
Philumeni Augus. quaest. etc. 

- 126 - 



too they may have been opened exceptionally to one of the 
class of freedmen; although parallels from this part of the coun- 
try are lacking (1). 

The officers of the organization were called curatores. 
There is no evidence for the existence here of the office of quin- 
quennalis, as the inscription sometimes cited to prove its pres- 
ence is really of unknown origin (2). A superior position was 
occupied by the duplicarii, who in the event of the distribution 
of a largess received a double portion. From the many referen- 
ces to the distinction the number in the class must have 
been large (3). It was not common elsewhere and is cited only 
from Tibur (4). 

The amount of the honorarium which the Augustales were 
obliged to pay as a condition of receiving their appointment 
is not stated definitely; the inscription containing a definite 
sum, which is classed among the Puteolana, can not be attribu- 
ted definitely to this city (5). The money was expended in 
different ways according to the decision of the decurions ; some- 
times several Augustales combined in performing their public 
service, as happened in 56 A. D. when they exhibited 
games (6). Though the cult of Augustus in particular and also 
the gens Iulia were the chief object to which the organization 
gave its attention, they sometimes honored other divinities by 
games, as in the example just cited, where along with Jupiter 
Optimus Maximus and the Genius Coloniae, Nero and his 

(1) Beurlier, he culte imperial 207, 215; Paribeni, N. S. 1902, 382: von 
Premerstein, Ruggiero I, 841, 850; Aedilis, Ruggiero I, 255; Mancini, Decu- 
riones Ruggiero II 1525; Mommsen C. /. L. X, p. 183 and Rom. Staatsrecht III, 
454(2); L. Taylor, Augustales, Seviri 'Augustales, Seviri in Trans, and Proc. 
of the Am. Phil. As. XLV (1914) 234-235. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 1883. Included with the Puteolana by Mommsen. It is 
utilized by Dubois to establish the office at Puteol:, but in a note is marked 
as doubtful. Dubois 146 (9). 

(3) N. S. 1897, 12; C. /. L. X, 1873, 1875, 1886 preserve the names of 
duplicarii; in C. /. L. X, 1871 the name has been lost. Uncertain are Nos. 
1790 and 1882, which might be from Cumae, provided the dignity really exist- 
ed there. 

(4) Von Premerstein, Ruggiero I, 850; Mommsen, C. /. L. X, p. 183; 
Beurlier Le culte imperial 222; Mourlot, Etudes sur les corps, prof. I, 112. 

(5) C. /. L. X, 1885. Cp. Mourlot, op. tit. 95. 

(6) C. /. L. X, 1574. Seep. 118. 

. 127 



mother received recognition (1). At other times the Augustales 
carried on building operations for the improvement of the town, 
constructing both sacred and secular edifices and monuments. 
A badly damaged fragment seems to indicate the erection of a 
basilica, another reports work carried on in connection with 
some plot of ground, a third inscription refers to a building 
the nature of which is unknown, finally there is the record of 
the statue set up in honor of Tiberius, which was mentioned 
above (2). 

A comparatively small number of inscriptions offer any 
sure indication of date. Besides one which belongs to the life- 
time of Augustus and the above mentioned record in honor of 
Tiberius, one belongs to the reign of the latter monarch (30 A. 
D.), another to that of Nero (56 A. D.) and a third to the period 
of Commodus (176-192), the latest evidence that has yet 
appeared. 

Augustus was worshipped in a temple erected almost cer- 
tainly during his lifetime by a certain Calpurnius Capitolinus, 
whose praenomen has been lost (3). He is generally identified 
with the prosperous merchant L. Calpurnius Capitolinus, whom 
members of his profession from Egypt, Syria, and Asia Minor 
name in an honorary inscription. If this supposition is correct, 
it offers a good indication of the interest taken in the new Im- 
perial cult by men of foreign birth. The immediate cause for 
the construction of this shrine was perhaps certain measures 
emanating from the Emperor, which built up the commerce of 
Puteoli (4) . The architect was L. Cocceius Auctus, who is 
probably the same individual cited as the builder of the passage 
between Lake Avernus and Cumae (5). 

These inscriptions were discovered oh the site of the an- 

(1) Von Premerstein, Ruggiero I, 839. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 1838, 1890, 1576, 1624. C P . 1839; Mourlot op. cit. 96 f. 
See p. 124. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 1613: Calpurnius L. i. templum Augusto cum ornamentis 
d. s. f. C P . X, 1797; Dubois, 145. 

(4) Hirschfeld, Zur Gesch. des rom. Kaiserl&dtus in Kleine Schriften 
477(5); Gardthausen, Augustus und seine Zeit I, 885. 

(5) C. /. L. X, 1614 = 0. 7731a: L. Cocceius L. C. Postumi I. Auctus ar- 
chitectus. For the supplements to be made with the letters L and C compare 
Dessau's note. Cp. Strab. V, 4, 5 and C. /. L. X, 3707. 

- 128 



eient temple, which is now occupied by the cathedral of S. 
Procolo, and the second is still attached to its walls above the 
entrance. It stood, therefore, on the citadel in the oldest part 
of the city. According to Nissen its transverse axis agrees with 
the rising sun on Sept. 23, the Emperor's birthday. He associ- 
ates this orientation with the steps taken in the province of Asia 
in 9 B. C. to make the year begin on this date, — an innovation 
which would have been well known to the founder through his 
Oriental connections (I). When it was transformed into a 
church is quite uncertain, as the latter is not mentioned before 
the eleventh century. The principal remains of the temple still 
visible are portions of a wall on the east side composed of 
travertine blocks and the upper sections of six Corinthian col- 
umns with a fragment of the architrave built into the wall. The 
bell-tower too is composed largely of ancient marble from 
the temple (2). A flamen of Augustus, mentioned in an 
inscription of uncertain provenience, is usually assigned to 
this cult (3). The cult of the Emperor combined with that 
of the Lares appears in one short inscription (4). Two others 
dealing with the same subject, one of which Wissowa clas- 
sifies here, have been relegated to the appendix as of unknown 
origin (5). 

Tiberius was publicly honored by the erection of statues, 
as has already been explained, but no evidence exists for 
supposing that he had a cult. As to the Emperors that followed, 
we have already noted an instance of honors rendered to 
Nero. But this Emperor did not dare to assume so large a 
measure of divinity as he craved on account of an omen, and 
furthermore we can expect little evidence in his case because 
of the general destruction of his monuments. Caligula and 
Domitian, both of whom were deified during life, were ex- 



(1) Nissen. Orientation 292, 345; Dittenberger, Orientis Graeci inscrip- 
tiones selectae 458 beginning. 

(2) De Iorio, Guida (2) 27; Mazzella, Sito ed antichita di Pozzuolo 18. 
Cp. the testimony of the Renaissance scholars quoted by Mommsen, C. /. L. 
X, 1613; Beloch 131; Dubois 346. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 1806; Dubois 145. 

(4) C. /. L. X, 1581 : Laribus Aug. sacr. Wissowa, Roscher II, 1881. 

(5) See p. 400. 

- 129 - 



posed to the same fortune after death (1). Dubois on the 
evidence of an inscription of doubtful origin assigns to Puteoli 
a cult of Claudius during that ruler's lifetime (2). But, al- 
though there is no reason to doubt the existence of such a 
cult here, it can not be regarded as proved. Nor does the sup- 
plement ministrae suit well the Imperial cult, and according 
to Hirschfeld there is a lack of evidence in the West for priests 
of a living Emperor designated by name (3). It is still more 
likely that this city was the seat of an important cult of Ves- 
pasian. He was much liked, and on various occasions showed 
his friendly feelings toward the inhabitants. He was commem- 
orated, moreover, in the official name of the last colony plant- 
ed here (4) . 

Hadrian, who died in this locality, was honored as Diuus 
in a temple due to his adopted son and successor Antoninus 
and had his own flamens. His memory was further commemo- 
rated by the institution of sacred games called Eusebeia, which 
were held at intervals of four years as a quinquennale certa* 
men (5). It has been surmised that this was the same series 
of contests which is called sacrum certamen iselasticum in an 
inscription found at Amalfi, as it too was established by An- 
toninus and held at Puteoli (6). On the other hand the ex- 
pression aywvec II toe in an inscription handed^ down as originat- 
ing at Neapolis is undoubtedly corrupt (7). The games 

(!) Tac. an XV, 74; Suet. CaL 22, Claud. 11: Aur. Vict. Caes. 39, 4; 
H'rschfeld, Kleine Schriften 483. Compare conditions at Pompeii where Nero 
had a priest. See p. 271. 

(2) Dubois, 146; Milanges XXII (1902) 40. 

(3) Hirschfeld, Kleine Schriften 483 (4). 

(4) But the inscriptions of restorations of buildings cited by Spinazzola 
as derived from this place come from other towns. See p. 139. 

(5) Vita Hadriani 27. Nee appellatus esset deus, nisi Antoninus rogasset. 
Templum denique ei pro sepulchro apud Puteolos constituit et quinquennale 
certamen et flamines et sodales et multa alia quae ad honorem quasi numinis 
pertinerent. Artemidorus, Oneirocr. I, 26. Mazzella, Sito ed antichita di Poz- 
zuolo 7). 

(6) C. /. L. X, 515 = D. 340=:Vaglieri 1315: Imp. Caesari constitutor! 

sacri certaminis iselastici, socii lictores populares denuntiatores Puteolani. In 
Greek ayo)V siaeXaaxixdc;. 

(7) J. G. XIV, 749 = C. /. G. 5810. Cp. Kaibel's note; Conze, Hadrianeia, 
D.-S. Ill, 2; Beurlier, he culie imperial 163. Beurlier not only makes the aywvss 
IKoi equal to the Eusebeia but also considers that both were in honor of Anto- 
ninus. Cp. Dubois, 96. 

- 130 - 



in honor of the deified Hadrian are known through many in- 
scriptions recording the victories of winning athletes, which 
have been discovered at Naples and in various other locali- 
ties (1). Among the numerous games celebrated throughout 
the Roman world during the era of the Empire, they seem to 
have taken a high rank. No further details relative to them 
have been preserved except the name of the victor in the first 
contest for flute players, P. Aelius Antigenes, who later be- 
came a demarch at Neapolis (2). An important inscription 
dealing with the Tyrian merchants established at Puteoli re- 
cords expenditures made by them for a certain contest. Some 
of the commentators have regarded this as a reference to the 
Eusebeia (3). But the latter seems to have been called def- 
initely by its precise name in all cases, and the games sup- 
ported by the Tyrian merchants were probably another series 
of minor importance at which the sacrifice of oxen formed 
an original and characteristic feature (4). 

Antoninus Pius himself had a temple here, evidently a 
commodious structure, where meetings were sometimes held. 
It is mentioned only once, in an inscription dated 187 A. 
D. (5). Beloch conjectured that the front of the temple upon 
the Lisbon vase was a representation of this shrine and that 
the standing figure seen there was that of Diuus Antoni- 
nus (6). 

ORIENTAL CULTS. 

No city of Italy offered more fruitful soil for the propa- 
gation of the Oriental cults, and in no other place of similar 



(1) /. G. XIV, 737, 739, 1102.; /. G. Ill, 129; /. G. VII, 49; C. /. G. 
1720. A list of games held elsewhere is found in Conze, D.-S. Ill, 2 and 
Stengel 'ASptaveia. P.-W. VII, 2165. 

(2) /. G. XIV, 737; Beloch 118. 

(3) Mommsen, Berichte der sacks Geselhchaft der Wiss. II (1850) 61 (1)- 
Ges. Schr. VIII, 12 (6); Walzing,E*u<*e sur les corp. prof. Ill, 443; Kaibel, 
/. G. XIV, p. 221. 

(4) Dittenberger, Orientis Graeci inscripiiones selectae II, p. 289 ; Ignaira,. 
De palaestra Neapolitana 229; Dubois 95. 

(5) C. /. L. X, 1784-D. 6334. 

(6) Beloch 140. See pp. 122, 135. 

- 13! - 



size were these religions so completely represented. (1). A- 
mong the various means by which they secured a foothold 
here, commerce took a leading place. Some of them, it is true, 
were greatly fostered by the presence of many Asiatic sailors 
at the neighboring harbor of Misenum, but in most cases the 
initial impulse for their establishment and their main support 
came from the many persons of Oriental birth who were as- 
sociated with the city for commercial reasons. A good indi- 
cation of the character of the population with which the city 
teemed is derived from the phrase Delus minor, which Luci- 
lius applied to the city (2). That island itself was thoroughly 
cosmopolitan and was filled especially with devotees of the 
various Syrian divinities; after its fall Puteoli was supreme in 
this field. Its only rival was Ostia, which, however, was much 
later in its development. 

The floating population of mariners and traders with 
whom the city was constantly filled was largely composed of 
men from the East, and Orientals destined for the various parts 
of central and northern Italy and Rome itself long used this 
city as their port of entry. More important was the continuous 
residence for long periods of Orientals who had charge of the 
warehouses, and were connected in various capacities with 
the intense commercial life that centered here. Such men not 
only set up sporadic dedications at the instigation of some o- 
men or dream but also built shrines, installed priests, and form- 
ed societies devoted to their own favorite cults. The so- 
cieties were both religious and commercial in their character, 
like those that had existed earlier at Delos and the Piraeus 
and those of the Middle Ages which the Europeans formed 
in Alexandria (3). Often they were the owners of valuable 
property. These religions had been making themselves felt 
as early as the beginning of the second century B. C. and 
rapidly increased in influence. In fact they made a strong ap- 
peal likewise to those of Italian birth, who being often in a 

(1) Beloch 114 f.; Dubois 83 f . ; Wissowa 88. 

(2) Lucil. HI (edition of Marx I p. 10). 

(3) Yver, he commerce et les marchands dans Vltalie meridonale, 193- 
195; Heyd, Geschichte des Levanthandels im Mittelalter II 427 f . ; Movers, 
Das phonizische Alterthum III, 115. 

- 132 - 



condition of misery and suffering, felt that the new cults of- 
fered them a consolation and a hope never dreamed of amid 
the exercises of the formal religion of the state. Among the 
great number of foreign forms of worship that had branches 
here those of Semitic origin were most numerous, as their in- 
fluence was brought to bear not only from Asia but also from 
Africa. 

EGYPTIAN DEITIES. 

Perhaps the earliest of the foreign religions to secure a 
foothold at Puteoli was that of Egypt. This became known in 
various ways. In the first place there was much direct inter- 
course between the city and Egypt, accompanied by the so- 
journ of citizens of each locality in the territory of the other. 
Alexandria in fact more than any other city carried on trade 
relations with Puteoli (1). Egyptian influence also made 
itself felt at second hand through the medium of Delos and 
Sicily, where the worship of the divinities of that land was prac- 
ticed at an early date. The latter was important as an inter- 
mediate station between Alexandria and Italy, and the former 
as explained in the first chapter contained many sojourners 
from Campania (2). The lex parieti fac'endo already cited 
elsewhere mentions a temple of Serapis as standing in the year 
105 B. C. (3). The probabilities are that it was not entirely 
new at that date; indeed the temple of the Egyptian gods at 
Pompeii seems to go back to the second century B. C, and 
there is no doubt that the one here is still older than it, be- 
cause the opportunities for the introduction and development 
of the cult were much more favorable than at any other point. 
At all events it must have been in existence at this place 



(1) Lumbroso, Recherches sur Veconomie politique de VEgypte sous 
les Lagides 156-157; Lafaye, Hist, du culte des divinitis d'Alexandrie hors 
de VEgypte 43. 

(2) Holm, Geschichte Siciliens im 'Altertum; Homolle, Lea Romains cl 
DSlos in Bull corr. hell. VIII (1884) 152 and Fouilles de D6los in Bull corr. 
hell VI (1882) 321, 323, 339, 341; Ciaceri, Culti e miti nella storia delVantica 
Mc'lia 259 f.; Cic. Verr. II, 160; Lafaye, op. cit. 37; Dulxxs 148. See p. 31. 

(3) See p. 122. 

- 133 - 



from the time that the city began to assume importance as a 
port of entry. Epigraphical evidence for its presence during 
the Empire is meager. An inscription, whose source is not 
altogether clear, records that the colonnade of the temple of 
Serapis was restored and its entrance beautified in the reign 
of Antoninus Pius. The work was done at the cost of a cer- 
tain Sex. Pompeius Primitius and his son in consequence of 
a vow made for the safety of the Emperor (1). Another vow 
made to Serapis at an uncertain date by Herennius Claudius 
Priscus, an officer of the second legion, was paid by the ded- 
ication of an offering (2). In the first instance the god is 
designated as magnus deus in accordance with a common 
form of address especially for divinities of foreign origin; in 
the second he is qualified as dominus, a term seldom applied 
to the gods and not cited elsewhere for Serapis. According 
to Lugli its use in this way is only found in inscriptions of a 
late period (3). Mention of the temple ceases after the sec- 
ond century A. D., and there seems -to be no proof for the 
assertion that it was in existence in the fourth (4). Although 
there is no doubt that Isis was much honored, no epigraphical 
or literary evidence on this point has come down to us. An 
inscription dealing with this cult, which Beloch is inclined to 
attribute to Puteoli, belongs more properly to Neapolis, as 
the name of the dedicator occurs elsewhere in inscriptions of 
that city (5). An epitaph of M. Antonius Isidorus, a pau- 
sarius dupUciarius, is cited by Dubois as one of the evidences 



(1) C. /. L. X, 1594. Voto suscepto pro salute Imp. Caes. M. Aurelii An- 
tonini Pii felicis Sex. Pompeius Primitius cum M. Virofurcio fil. columnas cum 
epistyl'o deo magno Serapi idemque introitum exornauerunt. The name Viro- 
furcio is marked in the index of C. /. L. X as dubious or corrupt. The in- 
scription, depending solely on manuscript copies, is sometimes assigned to 
Brixia. Its attribution to Puteoli is defended by Henzen, Hermes III (1869) 173. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 1593; ,,,,,, Herennius M. f. Claudius Priscus primipilaris 
leg. II tr. fortis, patronus munic. uoto suscepto domino Sarapidi d. d. The 
origin of this inscription is not free from doubt. 

(3) Lugli, Dominus, Ruggiero II, 1955 f. ; Vagliexi, Detis, Ruggiero II, 
1721. 

(4) Dubois 149. 

(5) Beloch 53; Duoois 152 and Melanges XXII (1902) 53 (1); /. G. XIV, 
719, Cp. /. G. 795. See p. 215. 

- 134 



for this form of religion. It appears that such priests had a 
part in the musical services of Isis, but Ferrero and Dessau, 
referring to Seneca, more plausibly explain the reference as 
an allusion to an official who regulated the movements of the 
rowers on shipboard (1). 

Various works of art attest the prominence of Serapis and 
his companion deities. A statue found in the Macellum exhib- 
its a common conception of the god. He is seated upon a 
throne and wears a long chiton. Upon his head appears a cal- 
athus; the left hand is upraised to hold a scepter, the right 
rests upon the hound of Hades (2). A small bust of the god 
shows again the head adorned in a similar way (3). The 
standing figure portrayed at th$ temple entrance upon the 
Lisbon vase has been identified by Studniczka with great 
probability as a likeness of Serapis in the capacity of sun god. 
The attributes upon which the identification is based consist 
of a calathus on the god's head with a crown of rays around 
it, a horn of plenty in one hand and a vessel for libations in 
the other. An altar and another object perhaps a steering-oar 
complete the details portrayed. Studniczka conjectured fur- 
ther that this type of the deity represents the principal image 
in the shrine at the time that the vase was made (4). Another 
work of art alludes to Anubis, and the fragment of a statuette 
of a pastophorm is described as having been found in the 
ruins of a small shrine destined for the service of the Egyptian 
gods (5). 

(1) Sen. epis. 56, 5; Ferrero. Bull Spigr. de la Gaule V (1885) 277; E. E. 
VIII, 383 = D. 2867; Dubois 152. Cp. Forcellini, Lexicon IV, 540. 

(2) Gerhard und Panofka, Neapels antike Bildwerke 23, No. 68; Finati, 
II real Museo Borbonico I (2) p. 52 No. 68; Riisch, Guida del Mmeo di Na- 
poli 188; Noj 705; Lafaye, Hist, da culte des divin. d' Alexandrie 273, No. 33; 
Dubois 415, No. 1 ; Reinach, RSpertoire I, 440, No. 2; Ciarac, MusSe de sculp- 
ture PI. 75], No. 1851. 

(3) Dubois 414 cat. No. 3; Matz und von Duhn, Antike Bildwerke in 

Rom I, 10, No. 39. 

(4) In Wiegand's article Die puteolanische Bauinschrift in Jahrb. fur Phil, 
und Pad. Supplementband XX (1893) 696 f . ; Dubois Milanges XXII (1902) 
49 f. and Pouzzoles antique 195. Wiegand and Dubois give references to sim- 
ilar representations of Serapis on coins. 

(5) Dubois, Pouzzoles antique, cat. 415, No. 3. and Melanges XXII (1902) 
54 (3);De Iorio, Guida (2) 86. 

- 135 



An interesting lamp having the shape of a small boat 
contains figures of Serapis, Isis, and Phtha-Hephaestus. The 
head of Serapis is covered with rays and the name Helioser- 
apis is applied to him, thus indicating a tendency to identify 
Serapis with the Sun; the latter, however, is also depicted 
separately as a radiant head (1). In the company of the E- 
gyptian deities is portrayed one of the Dioscuri with his steed, 
and above occurs the word Euploia in reference to the efficacy 
of the horsemeni in calming the waves (2). Isis and Serapis, 
therefore, seem to be associated with the Dioscuri as patrons 
of navigation and lords of the deep sea, a conclusion sup- 
ported by the form of the lam|p, the circumstance that it was 
found in the harbor, and th$ fact that Isis was one of the im- 
portant sailors' divinities. Apuleius has left an account of a 
spring festival connected with the opening of navigation, the 
chief feature of which was a procession in honor of Isis, where 
lights were borne by the participants. A gold lamp in the 
shape of a boat was carried by the chief priest, while the dev- 
otees of the goddess were supplied with others of ordinary 
material but of the same form (3). Hence it has been con- 
jectured with considerable probability that the lamp of Pu- 
teoli was designed for this purpose (4). 

The ruins now considered to belong to a macellum were 
for a long time regarded as the temple of Serapis because the 
statue of the god described above was found here (5). From 
the vague indications preserved in the lex parieti jaciendo it 
appears that the temple was located in a street adjacent to an 
open space {area) there mentioned, which was itself not far 

(1) Lafaye, op. cit. 304, No. 132 repeated by Dubois 437, No. 96; Albert, 
Etude sur le culte de Castor et Pollux 168, No. 236; /. G. XIV 2405 (48). Cp. 
Drexler, Helioserapis Roscher I 2026. Portrayed by Champfleury, Gaz. des 
beaux arts XVI (1864) 54; Walters, History of Ancient Pottery II, 403 PI. 63 (1). 
For the identification of Serapis and Sol see Macr. sat. I, 20, 13-18. Cp. Grup- 
pe, Jahresber, uber die Fortschr. der class. Altherhumsw. CXXXVII (1908) 507. 

(2) Albert, op. cit. 63. 

(3) Apul. met XI, 9-10. 

(4) Dubois 151. 

(5) This erroneous view seems not to have been abandoned by Albert, 
op. cit. 62 nor by Trede, Das Heidentum in der rom. Kirche I, 109. The lat- 
ter thinks that the sanctuary here served as a dream oracle. 

- 136 - 



from the sea and apparently separated from it by few, if any, 
buildings (1). The sanctuary was, therefore, situated in the 
harbor district and was convenient for the use of the Alexan- 
drian tradespeople, who would have a paramount interest in 
it. The stone containing this enactment was discovered in 
the sixteenth century near the church of S. Stefanino di Pon- 
tone, whose location has been forgotten. This is thought by 
Wiegand to have been situated near the mole and to have de- 
rived from it the appellation Pontone from the fact that the 
mole was called popularly Ponte di Caligola (2). The law 
was doubtless posted up in connection with the building op- 
erations which it describes; hence, if the area lay in this 
district around the harbor, it would give an approximate lo- 
cation for the temple and identify it definitely with the vici- 
nity of the port. Another meager indication for its situation is 
afforded by the Lisbon vase, which shows it between the am- 
phitheater and the mole and near the theatre. Probably it 
was not far removed from the building erroneously identified 
with it as Tempio di Serapide. Wiegand located it more pre- 
cisely a little to the south of this building near the landing 
from the mole. This location is in harmony with the dictum 
of Vitruvius that the shrine of this god ought to be situated 
in the emporium (3). 

The area or court already mentioned was fitted up for 
religious uses. Originally it was connected with a dwelling- 
house and entirely closed to the street. But as a result of the 
building operations here described its relation to the adjoining 
properties was completely reversed. Provided with an entrance 
to the street and walled up on the other sides, it became a pub- 
lic court used as a sacred enclosure to contain altars brought 
from a certain field. Wiegand believed that it was put under 
the protection of Serapis, whose temple was across the 
street (4). 

(1) C. /. L. X, 1781=Vaglieri 1883; Lex parieti faciendo in area quae est 

ante aedem Serapis trans uiam In area trans uiam paries qui est propter 

uiam ex eo pariete antas duas ad mare proicito. 

(2) Wiegand, Jahrb. fur Phil. u. Pad. Sup. XX (1893) 668, 696. 

(3) Vitr. I, 7, 1. 

(4) Wiegand, op. cit. 710. A plan of the area is found on plate I at the 
end of the volume containing his article. 

T37 - 



An Egyptian god Nephtho probably the same as Neph- 
thys is mentioned in a defixio along with the great Hebrew 
divinity. Though the form Nephtho is rare, its equivalent is 
frequently met in inscriptions of this type (1). 

MAGNA MATER. 

When the goddess first made her influence felt at Puteoli 
is uncertain, as no definite information is obtainable. It must 
have been at a comparatively early date immediately after 
the close of the Hannibalic War, when the city's commercial 
importance began. From that time on a stream of Asiatics 
found their way to the Italian coast. The influence of the mer- 
chants of Asia Minor in the first century A. D. has already 
been noted in connection with the honorary statue of Tiberius, 
which the Augustales erected in commemoration of his phil- 
anthropy exercised in that province (2). In fact the number 
of immigrants from Asia Minor was probably not much below 
that of the Semites who came from the districts farther south. 
Graillot conjectures that this goddess was introduced by mer- 
chants of Cyme who had settled here, but there seems to 
be no particular reason for selecting this city rather than any 
other (3). In spite of the evidence for this influence in the 
propagation of the cult Dubois denies that its presence here 
was due to commercial reasons (4). 

As Puteoli at the height of its activity was inhabited by 
a heterogeneous crowd of many nationalities constantly shift- 
ing and changing and was without the restraining influences 
of conservatism, the new religion probably developed more 
rapidly than elsewhere. In later times it may have been stim- 
ulated to some extent by the presence of the fleet at Mi- 
senum, but was naturally less affected thereby than the cult 
at Baiae (5). There are no records for this cult during the 



(!) Wunsch, r Antike Fluchiafeln 8; Drexler, Nephtho, Roscher. Ill, 188. 

(2) S.e p. 124; Dubois 104. 

(3) Graillot, Le culte de Cybtle, 430. 

(4) Dubois 152 

(5) See p. 87. 

- 138 - 



Republic or the first century that followed; Spinazzola strange- 
ly cites an inscription regarding the restoration of a temple 
which took place during that period but it belongs to Hercu- 
laneum (1). Yet there is every reason for supposing that the 
cult attained an unusually flourishing condition and developed 
sooner than in such a community as Herculaneum, where it 
was provided with a temple in the first century A. D. At Puteoli 
it connected itself especially with the warm springs (2). 

Dubois, following the lead of Beloch, has doubted the 
presence of a temple of this goddess at Puteoli, and has ad- 
mitted the possibility that her adherents in this community 
utilized the sanctuary at Baiae for their ceremonies and de- 
votions. The considerations which prompted Beloch to ad- 
vocate the theory of one body of dendrophori composed of 
the citizens of both Cumae and Puteoli, have already been 
examined and pronounced unsatisfactory (3). It is much 
more probable that there were two associations of dendrophori, 
one for each town, both of which consulted their respective 
local senates in case of need. In fact an example of such a 
consultation discussed below is still in existence. It is not, 
however, possible with Graillot to take this record and use 
it to prove the existence of two bodies (4). For in the case 
of the erection of a statue in Puteoli, the dendrophori would 
need to consult only the decurions of that town, although they 
themselves might be composed of residents of both Cumae 
and Baiae (5). Furthermore it is possible to assume that two 
bodies existed, but that they were dependent upon a single 
shrine, and there is no evidence at hand which wholly dis- 
proves such an assumption. Yet according to all probability 
there was a temple here long before the one at Baiae was built. 



(1) Spinazzola, La base figurata di Tiberio in Atii Nap. XXII (1902) part 
2, 135 (3). A similar inscription belonging to Neapolis is also assigned incor- 
rectly to Puteoli. 

(2) Graillot, Mater Deum Salutaris in Melanges Cagnat 224. Cp. Plin. naf. 
XXXI 2, and p. Ill of this work. 

(3) Dubois 153 (1). A more plausible view by the same scholar is expound- 
ed in Melanges XXII (1902) 35. See pp. 90-91. 

(4) Graillot, Le culte de Cybele 432*. Cp. however 270. 

(5) See p. 92. 

- 139 - 



It is indeed inconceivable that a place like Puteoli, where 
the cult manifestly developed early and had every opportunity 
to flourish, should lack its own shrine (1). 

Although no mention of a priest has yet been found, 
two inscriptions refer to the dendrophork One is the epitaph 
of Q. Aemilius Helpediphorus already cited, who besides 
being a dendrophorus was an Augustalis, and even became 
decurion (2). The second alludes to the organization collec- 
tively and gives a bit of interesting local information belong- 
ing to the year 196 A. D. The members had erected a statue 
for a benefactor M. Octauius Agatha, and were now consult- 
ing the decurions about an appropriate inscription to attach 
to the monument (3). They undoubtedly held at this time 
an entirely respectable and even important position in current 
civic activity. Yet one must not attach too much importance 
to the use of such a term as the honestissimum corpus here 
employed. When due allowance is made for the growing ten- 
dency to use high sounding expressions and meaningless su- 
perlatives, the phrase has no special value such as is attached 
to it by Graillot for proving the status of the association (4). 
The value of the inscription depends upon its reference to the 
relations existing between the collegium on the one side and 
the local senate on the other. That the former was to some 
degree dependent on the latter is highly probable, but as ex- 
plained above the value of the inscription is more apparent 
than real for the elucidation of this relation. Just as the con- 
sultation of the decurions at Puteoli rather than of any other 
town was determined by the location of the statue, so the 

(1) Cp. Dubois, Melanges, loc. cit. 

(2) C. I. L. X, 1790. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 1786 = VagIieri 1887: C. Domitio Dextro II L. Valerio Mes- 
sala Thrasia Prisco cos. VI idus Ianuar. in curia basilicae Aug. Annian. 

Scribundo c dfue unt A. Aquilus Proculus Quod postulante Cn. Haio 

Pudente, o(rnato) u(iro) de forma inscriptioni danda statuae quam dendrophor(i) 
Octauio Agathae p(atrono) c(olon*ae) n(ostrae) statuerunt, Cn. Papirius Sa- 

git a et P. Aelius Eudaemon iiuir(i) rettulerunt q(uid) d(e) e(a) r(e) f(ieri) p(Ia- 
ceret) d(e) r(e) i(ta) c(ensuerunt). Placere uniuersis honestissimo corpori den- 
drophorum inscript ionem ; quae ad honorem talis uiri pertineat dare quae 
decreto inserta est. 

(4) Graillot, Le culte de Ci/oe/e 431. 

- 140 - 



possibility that it was erected on public land may account for 
any consultation at all (1). It is noteworthy here that the 
name of the town is not used formally to qualify the den- 
drophori (2). 

The name of a caernophorus is preserved in an inscription 
which can not surely be assigned to Puteoli. It is the epitaph 
of Heria Victorina, who probably belonged to a well - to - do 
freedman's family (3). This maiden was evidently a kind 
of deaconess or assistant of the priests who were connected 
with the temple of Magna Mater. Her duty was to bear the 
sacred lamps and assist generally in the ceremonies (4). 
The employment of women in this position seems to have 
been a specialty of the religious communities of the West (5). 
It is probable also that the religiosi mentioned in an inscrip- 
tion found north of the city near the village of Marano (Ma- 
donna del Piano di Quarto) belonged to the worshippers of 
this goddess rather than to the adherents of any other similar 
cult. According to Graillot they were initiates who aspired 
to the highest place in the cult by certain ceremonial prac- 
tices and outward marks of devotion without attempting to 
withdraw from the activities of the world (6). At Puteoli 
they owned an ager, which was either a cemetery or a plot of 
ground fitted up for the enjoyment of the members. It was 
adorned with a colonnade and provided with seats by C. Iu- 
lius Aquilinus, a rich devotee of the cult (7). 

In the sixteenth century a statue of the goddess in a mu- 
tilated state was discovered on an estate known as the Villa 
Cordiglia, which belonged to the Palatine quarter lying near 

(!) Graillot, op. cit. 270. 

(2) Maue Die Vereine der fabri, centonarii und dendrophori im rom. 
Reich. 48(5). 

(3) C. /. L. X, I803=:Vaglieri 1905: Heriae Victorinae caernophoro M. 
Herius Valerianus filiae dulcissimae . 

(4) De Ruggiero, Caernophorus, Ruggiero II, 12. 

(5) Graillot, op. cit. 253. For the prominence of women generally in the 
Oriental cults see Maue, op. cit. 35. 

(6) Graillot 283-284. Citations of the term religiosus occur 283 (7). 

(7) C. /. L. X, 1894; Ager religiosorum. C. Iulius Aquilinus porticus et 
sedilia de suo extruxit. Grallot 431; Dubois 152; De Marchi, // culto privato 
II, 106. 

- 141 - 



the highway joining Puteoli and Cumae. It was accompanied 
by the fragments of a lion or lions that had stood at her 
feet (J). Whether these figures formed the cult statue of a 
shrine or at least a dedicatory offering belonging to it, or were 
merely decorative sculptures of the Thermae close by, with 
some slight allusion to Magna Mater as a goddess of water, 
remains uncertain, but the latter opinion is the more probable. 
A second statue, identified by the presence of a turreted crown, 
was found broken in many pieces (2) . A bronze votive lamp 
such as doubtless burned in the temple contains am inscription 
in the form Matri Magenae. (3). 

BELLONA. 

Somewhat similar to the Mother of the gods but exhibiting 
a much more somber and fearful aspect was the Oriental Bel- 
lona, originating at Comana in Cappadocia, who was con- 
fused by the later Romans with their native goddess of that 
name (4). C. Aninius, an adherent of this cult, is mentioned 
upon a marble fragment found in the Via Solfatara, and it is 
probable that a shrine was erected here, modelled like the 
one in Rome after the temple at Comana (5). 

There is no extant record of the performance of a tauro- 
bolium in this connection; the ceremony seems, however, to 
have been received into the ritual of this cult earlier than into 
the rites of Magna Mater (6). There were at Puteoli plenty 

(1) Palladini, Descrizione di tin sepolcreto etc. 14; Dubois 418, No. 16 ^ 
Graillot 432. 

(2) Loffredo, Le antichita di Pozzuolo 8; Dubois, cat. 418, No. 15. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 1587: Ascelapiades (sic) Matri Magenae (sic) d. d. 1. m. 
A statuette of the goddess of unknown origin in the National Museum at Na- 
ples may have come from Puteoli: Arndt-Amelung, Einzelaufnahmen antiker 
Skulpturen 533; Reinach, Rip. de la stat. gr. et rom. II, 271, No. 2. 

(4) Reville, La religion a Rome sous les Severes 69; Vaglieri, Bellona, 
Ruggiero, I, 988; Aust, Bellona, P.-W. Ill, 255 f . ; Maue, Die Vereine d. fabri 
etc. 23; Preller-Jordan II, 386. 

(5) A. J. A. 2nd ser. II (1898) 390: C. Aninius Bellonae sacrum. 

The dedications to Bellona are collected by Vaglieri, Ruggiero I, 988. 

(6) Cumont, Le taurohole et le culte de Bellone in Rev. d'hist. et de Hit. 
rel VI (1901) 102. 

- 142 - 



of gladiators, slaves and others of the lowest ranks of society 
to whom this worship mostly appealed, and from whose ranks 
its priestly fanatici were recruited. These persons were noto- 
rious for the excesses which they committed when carrying out 
the ritual of their office, and often were covered with their 
own blood (I). Three of these priests, who were members 
of an actors' association, along with other individuals of the 
same fraternity are mentioned in a graffito on the wall of a 
Pompeian hotel. They describe themselves as fanatici a pului- 
nare Synethaei, which is apparently an allusion to some shrine 
prepared by a certain Synethus, and also as sodales of the 
company of Anicetus, who elsewhere in an inscription of Pu~ 
teoli is recorded as being an r actor (2). It seems probable, there- 
fore, that the fanatici named here were devotees of Bellona, 
that they were lodging temporarily at Pompeii, and that in 
part at least they were residents of Puteoli. 

THE ORIENTAL LIBER. 

The cult of Dionysus-Liber already existent in the Re- 
publican period was modified or supplanted By the influence 
of the Orient. A new system of rites affected by the Asiatic 
cults and especially by that of Magna Mater made their way 
into Italy; in Rome itself they found a hospitable reception 
from the time of Julius Caesar and were zealously fostered 
by Septimius Severus (3). The revival of the Dionysiac mys- 
teries under Oriental influence seems to have takati place 
in the chief ports in the second century A. D. as they were 
flourishing greatly at Puteoli at the beginning of the third (4). 

(1) De Ruggiero, Fanaticus, Ruggiero III, 33; Samter, Fanaticus, P.-W. 
VI, 1986. 

(2) C. /. L. IV, 2155 = D. 4181b = Vaglieri 1866: C. Cominius Pyrrhicus et 
L. Nouius Priscus et L. Campius Primigenius, fanatici tres a puluinare Syne- 
thaei (sic) hie fuerunt cum Martiale sodale Actiani Anicetiani Sinceri ; Saluio 
sodali feliciter. Cp, C. /. L. X, 1946 and Zangemeister, Bull. Inst. 1865, 179; 
C. /. L. VI, 490 contains the expression ex aede Bellonaes puluinensis fanaticus. 

(3) Serv. ec?. V, 29; Dio Cassius LXXVI, 16, 3; Wissowa 303 and Liber, 
Roscher II, 2028. 

(4) Dubois, Melanges XXII (1902) 27 and Pouzzoles antique 137; Taylor. 
The Cults of Ostia3}. 

- 143 - 



This worship was closely associated with the cults of Isis, 
Mithras and Magna Mater, so that the same person often 
acted as priest for more than one of these deities (1). At 
Puteoli the new cult seems to have modified the older cult 
rather than to have usurped its place; at any rate as in the 
old, purely Greek mysteries, the god was closely associated 
with Ceres, the chief mystery goddess of the earlier epoch. 
A badly damaged inscription records the fact that Stlaccia, 
a priestess of the Cereres, apparently at the beginning of her 
term of office made a donation to the thiasus Placidianw (2). 
From the mention of the names of Caracalla and Geta it has 
been dated in the period 200-209 A. D., in the reign of Sep- 
timius Severus (3). The attendant of the god is an Italian 
as is indicated by her name, but has evidently become inter- 
ested in the religions of the Orient. How much the cult which 
she herself served had been modified by the ideas and cere- 
monies imported from the East is uncertain, nor is the exact 
significance of the term Cereres understood. The use of this 
word is confined to Africa with the exception of the present 
instance (4). Most commentators have considered that it rep- 
resented the two deities Ceres-Demeter and her daughter 
Persephone (5); Birt, however, saw an allusion to the 
Greek and Roman forms of the same goddess, and more re- 
cently Audollent has argued in favor of an interpretation that 



(1) Wissowa 304. For his relation to Magna Mater see Kern, Dionysos, 
P.-W. V, 1026. 

(2) C. /. L. X, I585 = D. '3366=:VagIieri 1138: Pro salute (?) Imp. Caesaris 
L. Septinri Seueri Pi P]ertinacis Aug. et [M. Aureli Antojnini Pii Aug. et 
P. Sept[imi Getae nobijlissimi Caes. et Iuli[ae Domnae mat. Augg.] et kas- 

trorum, Stla[ccia] sacerdos Cererum introitjus causa] thiaso Pla- 

cidiano donauit Hauio T. f. Eclectiano sace[rdote et Stlacciis Sotere et 

Repar[ato '. It is possible that Stlaccius should be read. Avellino, Bull. 

Nap. V (1847) 113; Macchioro, II sincretismo religioso e Vepigrafia in Rev. 
arch. IX (1907) 261 (3); Cp. Suet. Claud. 9 for the custom exemplified here. 

(3) Cagnat, Cours d! epigraphie latine (4) 211; Dubois 134 (7). 

(4) Audollent, Cereres in Melanges Cagnat 379 (3). 

(5) Wissowa, Ceres, P.-W. Ill, 1979 and Rel. und Kult. (2) 303; Pesta- 
lozza e Chiesa, Ceres, Ruggiero II, 207; Toutain, Les cultes paiens dans 
V empire romain I, 350. A more complete list of references on this subject is 
given by Audollent, Melanges Cagnat, 359 (2). 

- 144 - 



takes account of a double divinity, one aspect of which de- 
veloped from the Carthaginian goddess Tanit (I). 

The thiasus Placidianus was a group of persons similar to 
the associations called spirae and like them devoted to the 
worship of Liber. It probably included women in its member- 
ship, and derived its name from some individual who was a 
patron or prominent member (2). While here as elsewhere 
the mention of these societies belongs to the time of the Em- 
pire, their first appearance in Italy may go back to the period 
of the persecutions of Dionysus' followers when worship even 
of the Greek god in a public way was put under the ban. The 
same inscription contains the names of two other members of 
the gens Stlaccia, who were apparently connected with the 
thiasus. A priest of Liber T. Flauius Eclectianus reappears 
in another inscription, which bears witness to the orgiastic 
nature of the ritual at this period. Here he is associated with 
his son Olympianus and both are designated as sacerdotes 
orgiophantae (3). Probably the priesthood was regularly in 
the hands of this family, which was of some prominence lo- 
cally, as a M. Stlaccius Albinus was decurion (4). During 
the priesthood of the same Eclectianus an assistant with the 
title parastata appears in the person of an Imperial freedman 
Aurelius Draco, who offered the twenty year sacrifice, appar- 
ently an allusion to the taurobolium (5). A simple dedica- 
tion to the god was the work of another freedman of the Im- 



(!) Birt, Ceres, Roscher I, 866; Audollent, op. cit. 372. Cp. Toutain, 
Les cites romaines de la Tunisie 276. 

(2) C. /. L. X, Les associations religieuses chez les Grecs 5 ; Dubois. 
Melanges XXII (1902) 26. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 1583=:D. 3364=Vaglieri 1136: Libero patri sacrum. TT. 
Flauii Eclectianus et Olympianus fil. eius sacerdotes orgiophantae. Different 
titles borne by similar priests are enumerated by Wissowa, Liber, Roscher II, 
2028; Toutam, Liber Pater, D.-S. Ill, 1190. 

(4) C. /. L. X, 1783 = 0. 5919 == Vaglieri 1885. This inscription the date 
of which is uncertain is assigned by Dubois to the second century A. D., 
Pouzzoles antique 50. Erroneously assigned to the year 97 A. D. by the same 
writer in MSlanges XXII (1902) 26 (1). 

(5) C. /. L. X, 1584 = D. 3365 = Vaglieri 1137: Libero patri sacrum. XX 
annuale T. Fl. Eglectiani sacerd. Aurel. Aug. lib. Draco parastata conse- 
crauit. 

145 - 



perial family called Lupercus (I). It is undated and does not 
necessarily belong to the orientalized cult, but as it cornea 
from the epoch of the Empire and addresses the god as Liber 
pater, it probably should be assigned to that variety. There 
is furthermore no evidence for the existence of a parallel form 
marked by a ritual of the old Greek style. 

SYRIAN GODS - HELIOPOLITANUS. 

Another Oriental cult at Puteoli was that of Jupiter Op- 
timus Maximus Heliopolitanus, which represented an amal- 
gamation of the tutelary dteity of the Roman state and an 
important Semitic god of the sun. The cult of the latter had 
its center at Baalbek and was widely diffused through the 
Empire (2). As it was strong at the great mart of Delos, so 
it contested with fair success for a high place in the religious 
life of the busy Italian emporium, where it received the support 
especially of the merchants of such cities as Heliopolis and 
Berytus (3). The cult came to Italy in fact by way of tradb 
perhaps through Delos and established itself first at Pu- 
teoli (4). The adherents of this faith from Heliopolis were 
grouped together into an association denominated a corpus (5) t 
as appears from an inscription which is attributed rightly to 
Puteoli. As this term was not generally applied to religious 
associations in the early Empire, it tends to fix a dato 
for this notice as late as the third century. At that time a 
tract of land amounting to seven iugera with all its buildings 
and other appurtenances was conveyed as a regular property 
to* the believers of the cult of Heliopolitanus, and all persons 
who might have occasion to pass through it or use it were 

(1) C. /. L. X, 1586. 

(2) Dussaud, Heliopolitanus, P.-W. VIII, 52 f . ; Macrob. sat. I, 23, 
10 f. ; Drexler, Heliopolitanus, Roscher, I, 1987 f . ; Preller-Jordan II, 402;Per- 
drizet, Jupiter, D.-S. Ill, 700; Gruppe 1584 (4). 

(3) Walzing, Etude hist, sur les corps, prof. I, 204. Cp. I, 45." 

(4) C. H. Moore, Oriental Cults in Britain in Harvard Studies XI (1900) 
51. Cp. Homolle, Les Romains a Delos in Bull corr. hell. VIII (1884) 75 f . ; 
Drexler, Roscher, I, 1990; Wissowa 364. 

(5) Cp. the use of corpus to designate the dendrophori at the end 
of the second century A. D. De Ruggiero, Corpus, Ruggiero I. 1240-1241, 

- 146 - 



subject to the will of that body (1). Especially conspicuous 
for their zeal in the faith were a number of emigrants from 
the Phoenician city of Berytus (Beyrut), who are called in 
one place the cultores Berytenses. Their interest is explained 
by the fact tjhat in their native city Heliopolitanus had ob- 
tained such a preeminence as to overshadow even their own 
god Baalim. Their activity is represented by a dedication 
belonging to the year 115 or 116 A. D. in honor of the Em- 
peror Trajan, which is the oldest dated inscription for this 
cult (2). They were probably organized in an association 
like that of the merchants of Heliopolis, where religious ser- 
vices in honor of their favorite deity were a prominent fea- 
ture (3). 

The inhabitants of a third Asiatic city are probably re- 
ferred to in the unknown and doubtless corrupt word Gere- 
mellensium, preserved in an uncouth, poorly written inscription. 
Though found at Naples, it belongs to Puteoli (4). Mancini 
believed that the town in question was Germe in Galatia, 
which was situated close to Pessinus, and explained the word 
in the inscription as the diminutive of Germenensium parallel 
to the known form Germenorum with the addition of a para- 



(1) C. /. L. X, 1579 = D. 4291 = Vaglieri 1923. Hie ager iug. VII cum cis- 
terna et tabernis eius, eorum pdssessorum iuris est qui in cultu corporis He- 
liopolitanorum sunt eruntue, atque ita is accessus usque esto per ianuas itine- 
raque eius agri qui nihil aduersus lecem (sic) et conuentionem eius corporis 
facere perseuerauerint. 

(2) C. /. L. X, I634=:D. 300 = Vaglieri 1299: Imp. Caesari diui Neruae 
[f. Nervae] Traian. optimo Aug. Ger. Dacic. Parthic. pont. max. trib. potest. 
XX, imp. XII, cos. VI, patri patr. cultores Iouis Heliopolitani Berytenses, qui 
Puteolis consistent. Cp. Dussaud, P.-W. VIII, 55-56. A 1st of collegia that 
bear the names of deities is found in Walzing, op. cit. I, 197. Cp. F. Lenor- 
mant, Jupiter Heliopolitanus in Gazette arch. II (1876) 79. A man of Bery- 
tus addrissed a dedication at Nemausus (Nimes) C. /. L. XII, 3072 — D. 4288. 

(3) Walzing, Etude hist, sur les corps, prof. I, 224; Dubois 98 and 
Melanges XXII (1902) 57. 

(4) C. /. L. X, 1578 = D. 4290=;Vaglieri 1118: Ex iussu I. O. M. Helio- 
politani Aur. Theodoro sacerdote, filio, curator(i) templi Geremellensium, 
adampliante donis torquem et uelum sac(er dotes) et lucophori de suo posue- 
runt, curante Acilio Secundo Trotomias. (The readings are often extremely 
uncertain). Cp. Colonna, Scoperte di antichita in Napoli 473. 

- W 



sitic vowel after the first syllable (I). This view is rightly 
criticized by Dubois, who follows Gildemeister in associating 
the word with such Semitic place names as Gamala or Gemela 
(Gemala), and cites the cognomen Garmalla of an Oriental at 
Puteoli. Although the exact place in question can no longer 
be determined, Dubois conjectures that it was located in the 
region of Mt. Lebanon, where the cult of Heliopolitanus was 
demonstrably strong (2). According to another interpretation 
the word Geremellensium does not allude to the inhabitants 
of a particular place but means « worshippers of God ». This, 
however, seems less satisfactory (3) . 

The inscription cited above refers to the donation of certain 
gifts to the shrine in consequence of a dream or some other 
form of divine admonition. It seems to have been due to the 
joint action of the priest and a company of persons called 
lucophori who had some part in the ceremonies that is now 
unknown. Some have connected them with the word for light 
and considered that they were torch-bearers ; others with greater 
probability derive the name from the word for wolf (X6/,oc); al- 
though what part this animal may have played in the cult is 
wholly a mystery (4). A curator of the temple is attested 
here. Another sacerdos Hermianus, who had not yet entered 
upon the duties of his office, is named upon the fragments 
of a marble vase with sculptured reliefs (5). The name of an 
aedituus m [agister?] has also been "preserved, — a species of 
officer not cited elsewhere in connection with this cult. Stim- 
ulated by the order of his divinity, he restored the temple at 
an unknown date, as it had become shabby and dilapidat- 

(1) Mancini, Giornale degli scavi di Pompei n. s. Ill, 208. Coins of 
Germe bear the legend Col. Germenorum, Eckhel, Doctrina numorum voter- 
um III, 178. 

(2) De Witt, Onomasticon, see Gamala and Gemela; Jerome, De 
situ et nominibus locorum Hebraicorum 226, 247; Gildemeister, Epigraphische 
Nachlesen in Zeits. der deutschen morgenland. Gesell. XXIII (1869) 153 (1); 
Dubois 98 and Melanges XXII (1902) 59; RonzevaHe, Le simulacre du Jupiter 
Heliopolitanus in Comptes rendua delVac. des inscr. 1901, 482. 

(3) Renan, Une nouvelle inscription Nabatienne in Jour, asiatique seventh 
ser. II (1873) 384. 

(4) Mommsen C. /. L. X note to No. 1578; Dubois, 156. 

(5) E. E. VIII, 359. s Hermianus sacerdos d[esignatus?] I.O.M.H. 

- 148 - 



ed (I). He was evidently a person of wealth, holding a posi- 
tion of honor in the association that carried on this cult. The 
actual duties of his position in regard to the custody of the 
temple were perhaps delegated to a subordinate (2). 

JUPITER DOLICHENUS. 

The inscriptions generally adduced to attest a cult of 
Jupiter Dolichenus have already been treated under Misenum, 
where it seems that they more properly belong. It is, however, 
not at all improbable that there were enough adherents of this 
form of religion at Puteoli to support a shrine. The god was 
perhaps associated with the warm springs abounding in this 
neighborhood, becoming thus a rival of Magna Mater for the 
prerogatives earlier maintained by the Nymphs (3). In this 
aspect he would be regarded as a divinity with powers of 
healing and thus would easily become a companion of 
Aesculapius, with whom he was associated elsewhere. Furth- 
ermore like Aesculapius he seems to have been represented 
emblematically by a serpent (4). 

JUPITER DAMASCENUS. 

The third form of the Semitic Jupiter Optimus Maximus 
was qualified with the epithet Damascenus (5). This cult, 
originating in Damascus, attained at Puteoli a recognized 
standing but was perhaps never a public cult (6). It was 
patronized by people of means and possessed a shrine and 
priests. Two names of the latter have been preserved, both 

(1) A. /. A. 1898 II, 374: Ex] iussu I. O. M. Heliopolitan[i aed] 

em dilapsam M. Ulpius Sabinus aedituus mjagister?]. 

(2) Vaglieri, Aedituus, Ruggiero I, 272. 

(3) See p. 95. 

(4) Kenner, Mitteilungen der fern's, kgl- Central-Comm. zur Erforschung 
und Erhaltung der Denkmaler n. f. II (1876) 56; Kan, De lovis Dolicheni cultu 
25 f. ; and list of monuments 36 No. 4 ; Dubois, 155. Cp. C. /. L. Ill, 1128, 
1614; D. 2193a. 

(5) Cumont, Damascenus, P.-W. IV, 2035. 

(6) Dubois, Melanges XXII, (1902) 57. 

- 149 - 



members of the gens Nemonia, one of whom, Eutychianus, was 
also a votary of the Genius Coloniae. He was a prominent cit- 
izen, who was raised to the rank of eques by Antoninus Pius 
and at Puteoli was a decurion and aedile (1). The second 
Nemonius, perhaps the father of the other, seems to have 
provided the means for the erection of the honorary notice; 
the whole body of priests in the name of their patron deity 
gave the action their official approval. A second inscription 
bearing the letters I. O. M. D. may possibly be a reference to 
this cult, but it belongs much more probably to the better 
known worship of Dolichenus, and has been treated in that 
connection (2). 

DEA SYRIA. 

The important Syrian goddess who was revered as Derceto 
or Atargatis at Hierapolis (Bambyce) was known to the Ro- 
mans at least as early as the Asiatic expedition of Crassus (3). 
She was a prominent deity in the chief trade centers like Delos 
and Puteoli; in the case of the latter commerce played the 
chief part in her introduction, but the movement was no doubt 
assisted to some extent by the presence of slaves, as happened 
in Sicily (4). She may have been closely associated here 
with Jupiter Heliopolitanus, as at Hierapolis she was on terms 
of intimacy with the great god of that town (5). Her desig- 
nation Dea Syria in the West appears in several forms in 
the extant inscriptions. Like Magna Mater she was portrayed 
in the company of lions, and to this custom there is an allu- 

(!) C. /. L. 1576=0. 4326=Vaglieri 1115: Iussu Iouis Optimi Maximi 
Damasceni sacexdotes M. Nemonio M. filio Pal. Eutychiano, sacerdoti, hono- 
rato equo publico ab Imp. Antonino Aug. Pio p. p. adlecto in ordinem decu- 
rionum Puteolanor., aedili; M. Nemonius Callistus p(ater), sacerdos, remissa 
collatione. The supplement p(ater) may not be right and p(ublicus) has been 
suggested, Dubois, . Milanges XXII (1902) 57. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 1575. See p. 97. 

(3) Plut. Crassus 17; Preller-Jordan II, 356; Cumont, Dea Syria, P.-W. 
IV, 2239; MooTe, Oriental Cults in Britain in Harvard Studies XI (1900) 49; 
Cesano, Dea Syria, Ruggiero, II, 1467. 

(4) Diod. XXXIV, I, 5; Florus II, 7, 4. Cp. Hauvette-Besnault, Fouilles 
de DSlos in Bull corr. hell. VI (1900) 495. 

(5) F. Lenormant, Jupiter Heliopolitanus in Gazette arch. II (1876) 82. 

- 150 - 



sion in an inscription engraved upon a little column, which is 
the only remnant of a dedication now extant from thi3 district. 
Although it was discovered near Baia, it probably came ori- 
ginally from Puteoli. It records the gift of a leontochasma, a 
vessel in the form of a lion's jaws from which gushed forth 
the water of a fountain (1). 

Cumont identifies this goddess with the Venus Caelestis 
worshipped here, and so assigns to her the taurobolic altar 
bearing that name, but the two divinities were probably simi- 
lar rather than identical (2). Although this cult sometimes found 
favor in high quarters, it never became generally prominent 
and in the later years of Paganism had no vogue. 

DUSARES. 

Another Semitic god called Dusares was the supreme deity 
of the Nabataei, an Arabian tribe whose cult centered at the 
city of Petra. He was a solar deity and probably was associat- 
ed with hills and mountains (3). As these people were active 
in the commerce between the far East and Rome, they had 
a trading station at Puteoli to which they brought their god. 
From the number of Arabian names that have been preserved 
here, it would seem that a large contingent of that nationality 
was present (4). Elsewhere in the western part of the Roman 
world the cult has left no traces; here the evidence points to 
the presence of a regular shrine as early as the end of the Re- 
publican period. According to an Aramaic inscription written 
in Arabian characters, a mahramta, which was probably some 
kind of sanctuary, was constructed by one of the Nabataei call- 
ed Banhobal in the year 39 B. C. ; later during the reign iof 
Augustus three persons Ali, Mactai and Saidu joined in the 
work of restoring it in order to promote the welfare of their 

(1) C. /. L. X, 1554 = D. 4279 = Vaglieri 1041: et leontoxasma 

deae d(ominae?) Dasyr(iae) posuer. Cp. Dubois, 157 (3). 

(2) Tert. not. II, 8; Gruppe 1585 (3). 

(3) De Ruggiero, Dusares, Ruggierb II, 2078 ; Cumont, Dusares, P.-W. V. 
1866; Meyer, Dusares, Roscher I, 1206; Preller-Jordan II, 403 (4); Bathgen, Bei- 
trage zur semitischen Religionsgeschichte 92 f . ; Mortmann, Dusares bei Epi- 
phanius in Zeits. der deutschen morgenland. Ges XXIX <1876) 99 i . ; Eaudissin, 
Heilige Getvasser, Baume und Hohen in Stud, zur setnit. Religionsgesch. 
II, 250. 

(4) List in Dubois 101. 

- 15? - 



sovereign Harerat and his Queen (I). Although Dusares is 
not openly named, the nationality of the builders renders it 
quite certain that he was the god honored. Besides its use for 
worship this building probably served as a place for social and 
business meetings like others which were erected here by 
groups of foreigners (2). 

A dedication belonging to the year 11 A. D. and written 
in Aramaic reports that Zaidu and Abdelge have set up as an 
offering to Dusares two camels, because he answered their 
prayers (3). Renan, justly objecting to the interpretation 
that live animals were dedicated to the shrine, proposed to 
understand the gifts in a general sense as thank offerings 
(soXapiaTfypa) (4). But it is likely that these Arabs really dedi- 
cated camels, even though they were made only of bronze or 
terra cotta, and the marble of the inscription still shows holes 
where the images were attached to it (5). 

Three pedestals still in existence bear the simple inscrip- 
tion Dusari sacrum; two of them containing this phrase upon 
the front and the one word sacrum upon the back are plau- 
sibly conjectured by Dessau to have marked the limits of a 
sacred enclosure (6). A fragment cited by Dubois as still 
legible upon a stone lying in the subterranean parts of the 
amphitheater exhibits the letters Dus, and may be part of me 
same divinity's name (7). 

(1) C. J. S. II, part 1, No. 158. Translation: hoc est sacrarium quod 
renouauerunt....et *Ali, faber aerarius(?) et Martai qui nuncupatur Zabdat 

Saidu, Alius 'Abdat de suo pro uita Haretat, regis Na[bataeorum et Hul]du, 

uxoris eius, reginae Nabataeorum et eorum filiorum. Mense Ab anni XIV 

[regni eius] post tempus quo exstructa sunt sacraria priora, quae fecerat 

Banhobal, filius Bam [anno] VIII Maliku, regis Nabataeorum, deposuerunt 

in hoc sacrum . Renan, Une nouvelle inscription nabateenne in Jour, asia- 

tiqtte ser 7, II, 366 f. ; Gildemeister, Epigraphische Nachlesen in Zeits. det 
deutschen morgenland. Ges. XXIJI (1869) 150. 

(2) Renan, op. cit. 381 ; Dubois, Milanges XXII (1902) 64. 

(3) C. /. 5. II part I, No. 157. Translation: Hie sunt duo cameli, quos 
obtulerunt Zaidu et Abdelge, fllii Thaimu, filii Hani *u deo Dusara, qui exau- 
diuit eos. Anno XX regis Haretat regis Nabataeorum qui diligit populum suum. 

(4) Renan, Note sur deux inscriptions, Journal asiat. VII ser. I, p. 321. 

(5) Dubois, Milanges XXII (1902) 62. 

(6) C. /. L. X, 1556=0. 4350 a, b, c. 

(7) Dubois, Pouzzoles antique 162. 

- 152 - 



UNCERTAIN SEMITIC GODS. 

Besides the Semitic gods of Asia already discussed, there 
appear to be references to the divinities of two other cities 
whose cults are less well attested because of the fragmentary 
character of the evidence. A mutilated inscription, found in a 
spot where perhaps was located the establishment of the Tyrian 
merchants, contains a mention of Tyre itself and of some god 
who was probably the local form of Baal. On the upper 
portion of the stone, apparently added by a later hand are the 
words sacerdos siligimus, the significance of which is ob- 
scure (1). According to one interpretation based on Macrobius 
the words allude to a priest who received offerings of bread 
destined for the god ; with this idea in mind Minervini conjec- 
tured that the deity in question was Hercules-Melquart (2). 
This view is opposed by Dubois on the ground that Macrobius 
referred to a distinctly Roman custom, and this scholar is 
inclined to see here a proper name, rejecting rightly the idea 
of Minervini that the priest in question was a servant of Ceres 
Mundalis (3). 

The religious activity of the Tyrian merchants residing 
here is shown by an insciption of 174 A. D., where they 
request a contribution from their countrymen in Rome to meet 
their current expenses, a large part of which is caused by their 
religious duties. Here reference is made to the shrines of their 
ancestral deities, which needed to be maintained as in the past 
and provided with the requisite number of sacrifices. At this 
date the numbers and wealth of the Tyrian colony at Puteoli 
had greatly declined, and consequently they were no longer 
able to support the burden which custom and a feeling of 
obligation to their native city and its gods had laid upon 
them (4). 

(!) C. /. L. X, 1601=/. G. XIV, 831=Vaglieri 1219: Sacerdos siliginius 
Tyros metropolis] foe[derata] Tupo£ Eepoc xat dcauAoc; xal aOxdvofxo^ MTjxpdTcoXt^ 
<J?oivs£x*y)c; [xat tc5v xaxa KoCXyjv SupCav] ix<5Xs(dv Beep &y£q>. 

(2) Macr. sat. Ill, 11 ; Minervini, Bull. Nap. n. s. V (1857) 92. 

(3) Dubois, Melanges XXII (1902) 58 (1) and Pouzzoles antique 157 (4). 
(4) /. G. XIV, 830 ; Dittenbergear, Orieniis Graeci inscriptiones selectae 

287, No. 595 (with commentary); Mommsen, Ber. der sacks. Gesellschaft V 

- 153 - 



Another fragment partly in Greek and partly in Latin al- 
ludes evidently to a Semitic solar divinity from the neighbor- 
hood of Tyre. It bears the date of May 29, 79 A. D., computed 
according to the Phoenician reckoning. So much of the original 
is lacking that the exact sense of the whole is extremely du- 
bious; however, the gist of the matter is that a Phoenician 
deity was brought to Italy either as a mere image to serve the 
cult of certain Orientals at Puteoli or else by formal introduc- 
tion accompanied by fitting solemnities to mark the establish- 
ment of his worship (1). In the second case there would 
be a resemblance to the arrival of Magna Mater in Rome and 
of Astarte in Egypt (2). There has been considerable discus- 
sion about the details of the inscription and also about some 
of the essentials. According to Cagnat 's version, a Phoenician 
named Elim (HXsijjl) conducted the god from Arepta, a city 
identified with the Arefa of the Notitia Dignitatem (3). Ber- 
ger accepted this view in the main, and cited the Phoenician 
town of Araphat as the place mentioned in the inscription (4). 
A perplexing point is the word HXst|i, which Berger at first 
treated as a reference to a divinity, but afterwards admitted 
to be the name of a man, as had been proposed by Cagnat. 
Clermont-Ganneau too rejected the reference to a man and 
translated it as the equivalent of sacred rites, while on the 
other hand he believed that the name of a man was concealed 
in the expression ©so? — toe According to this version a cer- 
tain @soo[s{3]toc came by sea from Sarepta to Puteoli and there 



(1850) 57 f. = Ges. Schr. VIII, 8 f. and The Provinces of the Roman Empire 
(trans, of Dickson) II, 151 (2); Dubois 83 f . ; Schiirer, Gesch. d. Juden, (4) 
III, 102. 

(1) N. S. 1891, 167 = Comptes rendus de Vacad. des inscr. 1901; 192: 
i%\ Otccctow Aouxfoo Kocias — %al Tupioi$ ixoos ad (iyjvos 'Ap[xs|i]to(ou t,a %ax£- 
uXsuasv ol[%6] Tu poo sIq Ho%i6\oi<; 8sog ["HX]to(s) SapSTCXTjvog ^Y a Y £V [ 5 s| "HXetp, 

xax* imatoX^v. Pro salute imp. Domitiani l(ocus) c(oncessus) [decreto . 

The original irscription now at the University of Michigan has the reading 
IOCAREIITHNOC. 

(2) Clermont-Ganneau, he Phenicien Theosebios de Sarepta et son 
voyages a Pouzzoles in Recueil d*arch. orientate IV, 228. 

(3) Notitia Dignitatum XXXII, 39; Cagnat, Note sur une inscription 
grecque de Pouzzoles in Comptes rendus de Vacad. des inscr. 1901, *92. 

(4) Berger, Comptes rendus de Vacad. des inscr. 1901, 196, 578. 

154- 



performed religious ceremonies (1). Dubois with much prob- 
ability thinks there is an allusion to a Helios of Sarepta (2). 
As this inscription was found near the porta Erculea not far 
from the place where the one referring to the Tyrian god was 
unearthed, it may well have happened that both were set up 
in the extensive establishment maintained here by the mer- 
chants of Tyre. On account of the close proximity of Sarepta 
and Tyre and the absence at the same time of any real ri- 
valry, we may infer that the two bodies of merchants lived on 
intimate terms (3). 

VIRGO CAELESTIS. 

Virgo Caelestis or Urania, the great divinity of the Car- 
thaginians, was another form of the Tyrian Astarte, who in 
the days of the independence of Carthage was worshipped 
under the name of Tank (4). Among the Romans she was 
identified with various deities such as Juno and Venus, partic- 
ularly in the earlier times (5). As a Semitic goddess of 
various attributes, she was very much like the Dea Syria, and 
as has been explained above, she was identified with that 
divinity by Cumont (6). In a like manner Moore argues for 
the identification of Caelestis with Magna Mater and there 
is no doubt that the similarity of their attributes and ceremonies 
tended to cause them to blend together, so that one with a 
reflective trend of mind might unite them and thus the syn- 



(1) Clermont-Ganneau, op. cit. 230. 

(2) Dubois 160. Cp. Schiirer, Geschichte der Juden (4) III, 162 (20). 

(3) Dubois 161. 

(4) Audollent, Carthage romaine 369-371 ; Cumont, Caelestis, P. - W. 
II, 1247; deRuggiero, Caelestis, Ruggiero II, 4; Preller-Jordan II, 406; Roscher, 
Iuno, Roscher, II, 614; Toutain, Les citis romaines de la Tunisie, 214. The 
identity between Caelestis- Astarte and Tan it is denied b> Baudissin who con- 
siders that the former was expressed by Juno Caelestis, the latter by Juno 
Regina. Der phonizische Gott Esmun in Zeits. der deutschen morgenldnd. Ges. 
LIX (1905) 510 f. 

(5) C. H. Moore, On the Origin of the Taurobolium in Harvard Studies, 
XVII (1906) 47. 

(6) Cp. Cumont, P.-W. II, 1249. See p. 151. 

- 155 - 



cretism would be complete (1). But in a place like Puteoli 
the two cults might exist side by side supported by different 
elements of the population. In reality the inscription attesting 
the cult is of unknown origin, and is treated here only because 
there was little likelihood of a cult of Caelestis in any neighbor- 
ing town. It mentions the ceremony of the taurobolium as 
performed under the date of Oct. 7, 134 A. D., which is the 
oldest extant reference to this rite (2) . The record is impor- 
tant because the taurobolium is generally cited in the worship 
of Magna Mater. It seems, however, to have been associated 
first with other cults as here and only at a late date to have 
entered the Phrygian deity's ceremonies with which finally it 
was for the most part associated (3). It is cited in no other 
town in connection with the worship of Venus Caelestis (4). 
The word ecitium of the inscription has not been satis- 
factorily explained or emended (5). Pantelium was taken by 
Preller as the equivalent of the Greek rcavGiqXios, which he un- 
derstood as a title of Attis not elsewhere cited; in this case 
Attis would be the sun god considered as supreme ruler. This 
opinion was refuted by Cumont, who showed that the word 
equals TuavtsXeiov, a term used in the mysteries to express the 
culminating day of the festival. According to Zippel it signifies 
the highest consecration to the will of a goddess who was in- 

(1) Moore, op. cit. 46 f. cites Teit.apol. 12; Aug. civ. II, 4, 26 and 
C. /. L. VII, 759 from Britain. Frere, Sur le culte de Caelestis in Rev. arch. 
X (1907) 22. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 1596 = D. 4271 = Vaglieri 1206: L. Iulino Vrso Seruiano 
cos. Ill Non. Oct. ecitium taurobolium Veneris Celestae et pantelium Heren- 
nia Fortunata jmperio deae per Ti. Claudium Felicem sacerd, iterata est. It 
is possible that the numeral III should be construed with the following words. 

(3) For the origin of the taurobolium see Cumont, Rev. arch. XII 
(1888) 132 f.; Rev. d'hist. et de litt. religieuses VI (1901) 97 f . ; Rev. de phil. 
XVII (1893) 195 f . ; Textes et monuments figures relatifs aux mysteres de Mithra 
1, 334; Anaitis, P. - W. I, 2031 ; Wissowa 324a; Moore, Harvard Studies, XVII 
(1906) 43; Hepding, Attis 201; Korte, Ath. Mitt. XXIII (1898) 103; Esperandieu, 
l aurobolium, D.-S. V, 46 and Les inscriptions antiques de Lectoure 96; Zippel, 
Festschrift L. Friedlander dargebracht 519. 

(4) Korte, Ath. Mitth. XXIII (1898) 103. 

(5) Cumont conjectures eximium, Rev. arch. XII (1888) 133 (1); Espe- 
randieu proposes aegtium, TauroboUum, D.-S. V, 47 (4) and Les inscriptions 

antiques de Lectourj 95; Graillot Le culte de Cybele 431 (5) suggests initium. 

- 156 - 



terested in sacred prostitution (I). A priest appears here with 
the name Ti. Claudius Felix; as the same man is found in an 
inscription dated ten years later, it too probably belongs to the 
cult of Venus Caelestis. For some reason Frere does not include 
this official in his list of the known priests of Caelestis (2). 
Here there is a second reference to the taurobolium, in which 
the initiates sure Thalame, a female slave, and members of her 
family. This is an evidence for the assumption that when the 
taurobolium was first introduced in the West, its use was 
confined to those of lowly birth and humble station, and only 
toward the close of the third century it began to appeal to the 
rich and powerful (3). There is no indication in this instance 
as maintained by Gohler, that only sacrifice without baptism 
was meant or that the taurobolium was essentially different 
in this religion from that form which it assumed in the worship 
of Magna Mater (4). There may have been, however, cer- 
tain peculiar Semitic rites along with the regular taurobolium. 
Thus in the expression iterata est, Zippel, comparing a phrase 
used by Lampridius in regard to Eliogabalus, sees a reference 
to the custom of sacred prostitution prevailing in the worship 
of the Semitic Aphrodite, one of whose manifestations was the 
Virgo Caelestis (5). 



MITHRAS. 

While various solar deities of Semitic origin were popular 
at Puteoli, little evidence has reached us for the cult of Sol In- 
uictus Mithras, who became the most widely known and 
influential sun god in the Roman world. The designation Hoi 
Inuictus occurs once in company with the Genius of the colony, 



(1) Preller-Jordan II, 392; Dessau, Inscriptiones Latinae II, p^ 164; Zippei, 
Das Taurobolium in Festschrift L. Friedldnder dargebracht 520. 

(2) Frere, Rev. arch. X (1907) 28. 

(3) C. /. L. X, I597 = D. 4272=Vaglieri 1207: III Non. Dec. L. Lolliano 
Auito cos., Thalame Hosidiae Afrae cum suis condite per Ti. CI. Felicem 
sacerdotem. Zippel op. cit. 517. 

(4) Gohler, De Matris Magnae apud Romanos cultu 55 (1). 

(5) Zippel op. cit. 520. 

- 157 - 



as reported above (I). An offering was made by the family 
of Claudius Aurelius Rufinus, but it is not clear just which 
solar deity was meant, for the appellation Sol Inuictus was 
used as a generic term to refer to any of the Oriental sun gods 
as distinguished from native deities. Nor is it certain to what 
extent Sol and Genius were amalgamated in the thought of 
the dedicators. 

As a proof for the presence of Mithras worship, Hirsch- 
feld adduces three inscriptions, one of which contains the word 
pater, a recognized term in this cult to designate one of the 
grades of initiates (2) . But the word can be explained in other 
ways and so does not necessarily presuppose the presence of a 
band of Mithras worshippers. Dubois takes it as a term of 
honor employed by the Augustales in reference to a patron. 
Perhaps, however, it is used merely to distinguish this man 
from a son of the same name (3). The circumstance that 
the Augustales are called cultores would explain the word 
coluit, used in the epitaph of the Augustalis Q. Iusteius 
Diadumenus as a reference to the Imperial cult, but this 
explanation does not suit the same word when it is applied to 
Afranius Felix who was not an Augustalis (4). Mommsen's 
opinion that the term coluit has reference to the condition of ? 
colonus seems unlikely (5). It appears to be an allusion to 
religious devotion, and although its exact significance is quite 
uncertain it may possibly along with the word pater refer to 
the Mithras cult. A few remains of art have been found from 
time to time in the vicinity of Naples but none of these can 
be definitely associated with Puteoli (6). But although the 

(1) C. /. L. X, 1591=Vaglieri 1165: Soli Inuicto, Geni(o) Col(oniae) CI. 
Aurel. Rufinus cum conrige et filio d. d. Cumont, Textes et monuments I, 48. 

(2) C. /. L. X, J874 = VagIieri 1886: C. Caesonio Eudiacono patri cultor. 
7 Cornel, ob merita eius. Hirschfeld, Zur Gesch. des torn. Kaiserkultus in 
Sitzungsber. der Berl A\ad. 1888 2, 838 (28) = Kleine Schriften 478 (3). 

(3) Cp. C. /. L. X, 3685; Forcellini, Lexicon IV, 526 pater 5); Maiuri, 
Studi romani I (1913) 23-24; Dittenberger, /. G. HI, 106; Dubois 154 and Mi - 
langes XXII (1902) 41. 

(4) C. /. L. X, 1918: Afranio Felici q(ui) uixit ann(is) LXXIIII, co- 
luit ann(is) XXIII. 

(5) Mommsen, Rom. Staatsrecht III, 455 (6). 

(6) Cumont, Textes et monuments II, 485. 

- 158 - 



evidence for the presence of Mithras is not abundant and in 
no sense conclusive, there is every reason to believe that the 
cult flourished here. At the same time there are indications 
that it did not become so prominent as in certain other places (I). 
When the worship of Mithras began to prevail in Italy, Puteoli, 
while still a sea port of prominence was no longer the most 
important and had been for some time in a state of decline. 
Therefore it contained not only fewer merchants but also fewer 
slaves, who were an important factor in the propagation of the 
worship of this god (2). As the town was already over supplied 
with shrines consecrated to the various Oriental faiths, the 
adherents of which were gradually removing elsewhere and 
thus leaving the different congregations depleted in numbers, 
there was little encouragement for the growth of a new form 
of worship based upon similar principles. Ostia therefore rather 
than Puteoli gave a warm welcome to Mithras. 

THE GODS OF THE DAYS OF THE WEEK. 

The gods associated with the worship of the planets, who 
originated in connection with the astrological notions current 
in the Orient and presided over the seven days of the week, 
made their influence felt in the West largely through this port. 
While they were introduced in this region as early as the 
Christian era and soon came into common use to mark the 
various days, they did not as yet belong to the official Roman 
calendars, which were based upon a week of eight days until 
the end of the first century A. D. (3) A stone slab containing 
part of a list of market days which was found in a tomb near 
the heights of Posilipo includes the names of the gods from 

(!) Cp. C. H. Mooare, The Distribution of Oriental Cults in the Gauls. 
G~id in the Germanies in Trans, and Proc. of the Am. Phil. Assoc. XXXVIII 
(1907) 144. 

(2) The waning strength of the Oriental communities is shown by the 
request of the Tyrans for financial aid t~> meet the burdens : mposed upon 
them (172 A. D.) 1. G. XIV, 830 = C. J. G/5853. Cumont Textes et monuments 
I, 265; Dubois 153; L. Taylor, The Cults of Ostia 82; Cumont, Les mysteres 
de Mithra (2) 53. 

(3) Maass, Die Tagesgotter in Rom und den Provinzen 278. 

- 150- 



Saturn to Mars (1). It is dated in the first century A. D. To 
the same class belongs another inscription included among 
those of this city, but its origin can not be exactly 
determined (2). 

JUDAISM. 

The Jews formed a numerous community at Puteoli but 
nothing is known of its beginning and subsequent develop- 
ment (3). It seems to have been important as early as the 
first century B. C, as is indicated by an incident preserved 
in the histories of Josephus. An impostor, who had assumed 
the name of Alexander, a son of Herod the Great, and while 
posing as that prince came to Italy to claim his lights, landed 
at Puteoli and was welcomed by Jews who were friendly 
toward Herod (4 B. C.) (4). Large numbers of Jews had been 
carried away from Palestine as captives by Pompey in 63 B. C. 
and it is probable that the community at Puteoli was largely 
made up of slaves or descendants of slaves. Others may have 
been lured to locate here by the advantageous commercial 
prospects which the city offered, and engaged in trade like 
the Phoenicians. On account of their uncompromising attitude 
in religion, however, they naturally took no part in the semi- 
religious societies maintained by other Semitic merchants for 
social and business reasons (5). An influential community is 
presupposed by the author of the Acts of Peter and Paul, which 
enlarges upon the fact that Paul landed at Puteoli on his 
voyage to Rome. According to this account the Jews are 



(1) N. S. 1891, 238 = C. /. L. I, (2) p. 218. Cp. a tabula nundialis of 
uncertain origin in C. /. L. I (2) p. 218 and Maass, op. cti. 265. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 1605. 

(3) Harnack, Die Mission und Ausbreitung des Christentums II, 216. 

(4) Josephus, Antiq. ludaeorum XVII 12, 1 and Bellum lud, II 7, 1 ; 
Schiirer, Geschichte der Juden III ; Ferorell', Gli ebrei nelV Italia meridionale 
in Arch. star. Nap. XXXII (1907) 249, and Gli Ebrei nelYli. merid. daWeta 
romana al secolo XVIII 3. 

(5) Mommsen, Rom. Gesch. (3) V, 470 = Provinces of the Roman Em- 
pire (trans, of Dickson) II, 155-156; Dubois 101; Friedlander Sittengesch. (8) 
IV, 237. 

- 160 - 



supposed to have desired to kill the Apostle and actually to 
have murdered the ship captain Dioscorus, whom they mistook 
for him (1). Toward the close of the Empire the Jewish 
element seems to have been very important and to have num- 
bered men of prominence among its members (2). A cemetery 
for the use of the Jews probably lay near the spot called Marano, 
as inscriptions alluding to men of this nationality have been 
discovered in this vicinity. 

Renan has pointed out the influence which the volcanic 
region of the Solfatara seems to have exercised upon the minds 
of the Jews, as is expressed in their sacred writings (3). In 
this class belongs especially the apocalyptical book of Enoch, 
where it is stated that the fallen angels dwell in a subterranean 
valley located in the West. Here were boiling springs of 
sulphur, floods of fire and a smoke arising from burning 
brimstone (4). Moreover the myths of the Giants localized 
in the Phlegraean Fields were adopted by the author of this 
book (5). Renan also considered that the writer of the book 
of Revelation had been at Puteoli, and used the Solfatara as 
the original of his vision of the sun and locusts to cover the 
earth like squadrons of cavalry (6). Similar in substance is 
a passage in the Sibylline oracles due to Jewish authorship (7). 

Hebrew divinities are named in an imprecation tablet writ- 
ten in Greek, which Wunsch regards as the work of a non- 
Greek v and perhaps of a Latin (8). It prays for the ruin of 
C. Stlaccius Liberalis belonging to a gens, some of whose 

(1) Acta Petri et Pauli 9. 

(2) The inscriptions relating to the Jews are assembled by Dubois 
103. Cp. Minervini, Bull. Nap. n. s. Ill (1855) 105; Juster, Les Juifs dans 
V empire romain 1, 445 (3). 

(3) Renan, Antechrist 330 f. = Antichrist (trans, of Allen) 266 and Les 
Apotres 195; Dubois 166; Chiappelli, Atti della r. Accad. di sci. mor. e pol. 
(Napoli) XXXI (1900) 558. 

(4) The book of Enoch LXV11, 4-13. 

(5) Enoch 12; Renan, Antechrist 332 = Antichrist (trans.) 265 (5). 

(6) Revelation 9; Renan, Antechrist 396 = Antichrist (trans.) 310. 

(7) Oracula Sibyllina IV, 130 f. 

(8) /. G. XIV 859; Audollent, Defixionum tabellae No. 208; Wunsch, 
Antike Fluchtafeln No. 2; Hiilsen, Bleitafel, mit Verwtinschungsformeln in 
Arch. Zeit. XXXIX (1881) 309. 

- 161 - 

11 



members, as we have already seen, were devoted to the cult 
of the Oriental Liber and the Cereres (1). The empbpHeiit: 
of Semitic deities, who had been made known to the world 
through the wiitiiigat of Hellenized Jews, is in accordance with 
^ tendency of the times to form a theogony comprising both 
Semitic and Greek divinities. Whether such a combination 
is particularly the result of Gnosticism is uncertain. At the 
head of the list of gods invoked to execute the work of 
destruction appears the word Sabaoth, a Greek expression for 
one of the aspects of the great Jehovah, which was often 
utilized in similar cases (2). A prominent place is occupied 
by Iao, another reference to the Hebrew deity, who in harmony 
with the polytheistic tendencies of the writer is named as an 
independent god (3). With him appears the Semitic El, 
worshipped especially among the Phoenicians and sometimes 
with Greek influence associated with Cronos. Then follows 
the mighty angel Michael, the protector of the Hebrews after 
the Captivity, who played an important part in spells and 
incantations, and was believed to have an extraordinary power 
of control over the demons of evil and darkness (4). Finally, 
as stated above, an Egyptian divinity completes the list. 

CHRISTIANITY. 

The modern Pozzuoli makes the claim that it is the oldest 
Christian community in Italy and is a foundation, of St. Patrobus. 
Such at least is the purport of an inscription engraved upon 
a pedestal in the market place (5). But while this claim can 
not be proved, the church here was certainly one of the oldest 
and in venerable antiquity ranks with the one at Rome. Here 
in the year 66 of our era St. Paul landed on his way from 

(1) See p. 144. 

(2) Wiinsch, op. cit. p. 7; Hofer, Sabaoth, RoscKer IV 231 ; von Baudissin, 
Der Gottername 'Ioao in Studien zur semitischen Religionsgeschichte I 187 ; 
Deissmann, Bibehtudien 6. 

(3) Se? p. 84. 

(4) Wiinsch op. cit. 8; Dieterich, Abraxas 122; Cumont, £/, P.-W. 
V, 2217 f . ; Liiken, Eine Darstellung und Vergleichen der jiidischen und der 
morgenldndhch-christlichen Tradition Votn Erzengel Michael 15 f . ; 117 f. 

(5) Cp. Trecle, Dors Heidentum in der rom. Kirche II, 170. 

- 162 - 



Caesarea to Rome, and found a number of Christians already 
located to welcome him; with them he tarried for a week (1). 
These people were doubtless converted Jews belonging chiefly 
to the lower orders of society, as was the case also in other 
localities (2). The origin and development of the body of 
believers constituting the local church is quite diffi- 
cult to follow, because the Apostle nowhere else alludes to 
this church nor to any of its members, and the later compos- 
itions that purport to relate incidents connected with his stay are 
worthless. The same judgment must be passed on the writings 
which attempt to connect Peter with the church of Puteoli; 
although recent attempts have not been lacking to demonstrate 
that it was a foundation of that Apostle. At the same time 
the compositions just cited, however worthless they may be 
for the facts which they claim to relate, are of some value in 
the sense that they clearly indicate a belief that the early com- 
pany of believers here was important (3). 

The Patrobas who is mentioned by St. Paul is cited in 
certain documents as a bishop of Puteoli, but no reliance can 
be placed upon these sources (4) . Another alleged bishop 
called Celsus may have been a prominent member of the early 
church, but there is no evidence that he held a bishopric (5). 
In the third and fourth centuries the names of several incumbents 



(1) Acts 28, 13-14; Weizsacker, Das apostolische Zeitalter (3) 450; 
Duchesne, Histoire ancienne de Yiglise (5) I, 58; Ramsay, St. Paul the Trav- 
eller and the Roman Citizen 346; Renan, St. Paul 113, 558-559 and Ante- 
christ 10; C. Bigg, The Origins of Christianity 19; Weiss, Das Urchristen- 
turn 290. 

(2) See p. 39. 

(3) Acta Petri et Pauli 9; Lipsius et Bonnet, Acta apostolorum apoc- 
rypha I, 51 ; Acts of St. Aspren in Acta Sanctorum August, I, p. 201 f. ; Lipsius. 
Die apokrrphen Apostelgeschichten II, part 1, 177, 341; Weizsacker op. cit. 
465 f . ; Lanzoni, Riv. storico-crit, delle scienze teol. VI (1910 119; Scherillo, 
Delia venuta di S. Pietro nella citta di Napoli 150 f. 

(4) Romans 16; Pseudo-Hippolytus, De LXX apostolis = Migne, Pair. 
Graeca X, 956, No. 37; Selecta quaedam ad illustrationem Chronici Paschalis — 
Migne, Patr. graeca XCII, 1063, No. 37; Synaxarium Costantinopolitanum in 
Acta sanctorum Propylaeum Nov. 194, 1. 10; 786, 1. 14. Cp. Scherillo, op. cit. 
183 f. 

(5) Scherillo, op. cit 203; Dubois 168 f. 

163- 



of the office cure known (1). Likewise the names of martyrs 
have been preserved, the most important of whom is St. Jan- 
uarius, a bishop of Beneventum, who became the patron 
saint of the Neapolitans. In the year 305 the saint with several 
companions was condemned to die in the arena, but was 
actually executed by beheading near the Solfatara. On this 
spot perhaps in the fourth century a church was erected in 
honor of the saint (2). At an unknown date subsequent to 
this event the temple of Augustus was transformed into the 
church of S. Proculo (3). Remains which refer to the early 
Christian community are few. A limited number of inscriptions 
have been found but none that is dated before the fifth cen- 
tury. Dubois cites also two bas-reliefs with figures of the 
apostles Peter and Paul (4). 



(!) Bibliotheca hagiagraphica Latina I, 613; Mazocchi, Acta Bononi- 
ensia p. 25 f. ; Greek life of St. Januarius in Bibliotheca Casinensis II, Flori- 
legium 227 f . ; Dubois 171 f. 

(2) Dubois 170 f. 

(3) The church is not mentioned before the eleventh century, Capasso, 
Monumenta Neapol. Ducatus II, Regesta 406, 44!.; Dubois 183. 

(4) C. /. L. X, 3298-3333; Dubois 427, Nos. 44,45. 

- 164 - 



CHAPTER IV, 
NEAPOLIS, 



Midway between Puteoli and Mt. Vesuvius, on the slopes 
of the hills that rise on the western side of the Bay of Naples 
there grew up in ancient times a city, which through all the 
vicissitudes of Italian history has maintained its identity to 
the present moment. This is the Neapolis of the Greeks and 
Romans, the Napoli of the modern Italian kingdom. Built in 
a strong natural position, it was rarely besieged with success, 
and enjoyed an almost unparalleled good fortune in never 
being violently destroyed. It was laid out systematically with 
a Forum in the center and three main avenues running from 
east to west, and this symmetrical arrangement combined with 
its magnificent location in the midst of a landscape unexcelled 
for beauty made it one of the most attractive spots in Italy (1). 
Like all the coast cities its subject territory was limited to a 
few square miles. The series of heights called collis Leucogaens, 
extending from the northeast toward the coast, formed its 
boundary on the side of Puteoli and Capua. On the east its 
territory touched that of the adjacent Herculaneum, and toward 
the northeast it included the valley of the Sebethus about as 
far as the village of Pomigliano, which thus marks approxi- 
mately its limits in the direction of Nola. In addition its territory 

(1) Generally considered as an illustration of the system of city planning 
ascribed to Hippodamus of Miletus with rectangular rather than square blocks. 
But cp. Haverfield, Ancient Town Planning, 101, who considers that the design 
shown here is fundamentally Italian. F. von Duhn, Der Dioskurentempel in 
Neapel 5 (5). 

~ 165 - 



included the islands of Capreae (Capri) and Pithecussae 
(Ischia) (1). 

The valley of the Sebethus produced grain in abundance 
and the hill-country an excellent sort of wine. Among other 
articles of commerce were chestnuts, reputed to be the best in 
Italy, and perfumed ointments of good quality. The location 
of the city was furthermore adapted for commerce; it possessed 
from early times a fortified harbor district on the low coast 
land, and before the rise of Puteoli attended to most of the 
transportation of wares between Campania and the lands of the 
East. But during the whole period of Roman supremacy under 
the Empire as well as under the Republic, Neapolis as a 
business center was of only moderate importance because of 
the close proximity of Puteoli, which had become the maritime 
metropolis of the western coast. 

The city continued to be predominantly Greek in its lan- 
guage and institutions under the jurisdiction of Rome, and in 
the epoch of the Empire was the one center of Greek civili- 
zation in the province. Its people were interested in rhetoric, 
music and the various forms of culture and in the contests of 
the stadium rather than in the combats of the arena. Here 
Polemon, the celebrated Sophist, and other rhetoricians taught. 
As a result of all this activity docta became a regular epithet 
of the city, and when Nero wished to exhibit his musical ability 
in public, he selected the Neapolitans as a sympathetic yet 
discriminating audience. Finally the city is prominently iden- 
tified with Latin literature through the circumstance that Vergil, 
Statius and Silius at various times had their residence there (2). 

Ancient writers assert that the original settlement was 
first called Parthenope from its guardian deity the Siren or else 
Phaleron; others have claimed the existence near by of another 
community named Palaepolis. Although the early traditions 
are extremely uncertain and contradictory, it is probable that 
Rhodians settled first in the neighborhood ; later at the beginning 



(!) Beloch 16-17. 

(2) For more complete accounts of the city see Beloch 54; Nissen, Ital- 
ische Landeskunde II, 743 f. ; De Petra, / porti antichi deW Italia meridionale 
324 f. 

- 166 - 



of the sixth century B. C. a band from Cumae founded a 
community, and within another hundred years these colonists 
were joined by settlers from Athens. In 421 B. C. when the 
Campanians had made themselves masters of Cumae, Neapolis 
served as a refuge for the inhabitants who escaped, and was 
henceforth the sole survivor of the independent Greek cities 
in this region, - a rallying point for the vestiges of Greek civil- 
ization in the West. 

After the Oscans had obtained a place in the state in 
consequence of internal dissensions, it continued to flourish in 
both an intellectual and commercial way. Its sea power was 
supreme, and when the Romans began encroaching upon 
Campania, it declared war in 328 B. C, and with the help 
of the Samnites and other allies was resisting the enemy with 
good success until treachery rendered its efforts vain. But, 
although the Romans thus gained possession of the city, they 
offered favorable terms of alliance to the conquered people, 
depriving it only of the island Pithecussae (326 B. C); as a 
result of their liberal policy they were never troubled by any 
attempt to revolt on the part of the Neapolitans. The latter 
after considerable hesitation accepted Roman citizenship under 
the terms of the lex Iulia, but were allowed to retain Greek as 
their official language and to continue the election of their 
regular magistrates. Augustus took away Capreae from their 
jurisdiction but restored Pithecussae (I). Titus added to the 
population a number of veterans and assisted materially in the 
rebuilding of those districts destroyed by the earthquake of 63 
A. D. At some time in the early Empire it became a colony; 
in the later Imperial period it began to outstrip Puteoli, and 
in the sixth century Cassiodorus speaks of its power and 
wealth (2). During the barbarian invasions it escaped disaster; 
it was captured, however, by Belisarius in his attempt to recover 
Italy for the Byzantine empire (536 A. D.), and was retaken 
later by Totila, who razed the walls. (543 A. D.) (3). 

(1) See p. 315. 

(2) Cassiod. Var. VI, 23. This testimony, however, must be somewhat 
discounted because of the florid, rhetorical character of the passage. 

(3) For the history of Neapolis see Beloch 28 f . ; Franz, C. /. G. HI. 
p. 714 f.; Kaibei, /. G. XIV p. 190 f.; Mommsen, C. L L. X, p. 170-173; 

- 167 - 



PHRATRY GODS. 

In accordance with their Greek origin and institutions the 
Neapolitans were grouped in phratries, which formed the 
component elements of their state. They were important in 
the life of the citizens, and had their own assemblies, places 
of meeting, officers, and religious observances (1). The sac- 
rifices and offerings made in the interest of the gods recognized 
by various phratries are alluded to in several inscriptions, 
which belong ordinarily to a comparatively late period like 
all those giving any information about the phratries. From 
this source it is evident that sacrifices were due at regular 
intervals. The testator Ariston, who with his wife Valeria 
Musa left a bequest to the phratry of the Aristaioi to be used 
for feasts and sacrifices and also to serve as a loan fund, 
stipulated that the officers of the phratry should not utilize his 
legacy for feast or sacrifice except upon the two customary 
days of each month. Should this prohibition be violated, the 
officials of the organization were required to pay to the phratry 
gods' treasury the sum of 250 denarii of silver as a penalty (2) 
M. Cocceius, a freedman of one of the Emperors, probably 
Nerva, offered in company with his children an enormous 
bowl (sfejphos) and Caedicia Victrix set up a pedestal for this 
or a similar vessel (3). Sometimes the divinities of a phratry 
are referred to simply as 0sot (4); the official designation, 
however, is 6sol (ppdtptot or 6soi (ppVjTopsc These deities, under 
whose protection the individual phratries stood, are generally 
distinguished from the 6sol rcdtpioi worshipped by the state as 
a whole. Yet this distinction does not seem always to have 
been observed, at least in the later times, because in one instance 

Nissen. It. Lande&k. II, 747 f . ; Pais, Storia di Napoli e Ischia in Atti Nap. 
XXI (1900) part. I, 145 f. ; La missione politica e civile di Napoli nelV antichita 
in Flegrea II (1900) part. 1, 300 f . ; Pirro, Origine di Napoli and Nuovo 
contribute della storia di Napoli greca in Studi stor. V (1912) 275 f . ; De Petxa, 
Napoli e la tomha di Partenope in Atti Nap. XXV (1908) 15 f. 

(1) Lecrivain, Phratria, D.-S. IV 446. 

(2) /. G. XIV, 759= C. I. G. 5785 s= Vaglieri 1743. 

(3) /. G. XIV, 721= C. /. G. 5788. 

(4) /. G. XIV, 724; /. G. XIV, 725= C. /. G. 5808. 

- 168 - 



the image of the eponymous phratry god Eumelus is designated 
by the epithet itatpcpoc (1). It may of course be true in this case 
that the god was honored by a wider circle than the members 
of a single phratry; he seems in fact to have been of some 
prominence from the circumstance that Eumelis replaces 
Parthenope as a designation for the nymph who guarded the 
city (2). But it does not seem probable, as is claimed by De 
Petra, that this god should be put in the same category as the 
major dii patrii of the community, - Apollo, Demeter, and the 
Dioscuri (3). 

The employment of the term 6eoi ^pTjtopsc tends to indicate 
a belief in divinities conceived in a vague and general way 
as protectors of the phratry and not called by individual 
names (4). At the same time the appearance of gods like 
Eumelus proves that in the period from which our evidence 
is derived specific divinities with particular names are recog- 
nized; the latter are either in addition to the former category, 
or else became associated with those deities in the course of 
time and gradually usurped their places. That additional gods 
were honored by the associations composing the phratries ift 
addition to the original nameless ones is proved by the in- 
scription in which the Theotadai associate the deified Emperors 
with their old phratry gods (5). Among the divinities with 
individual names are certain eponymous gods and heroes 
from whom the phratry derived its name, and possibly others 
of the more important divinities who were especially rever- 
enced in some of the associations. To the first class belongs 
the Eumelus mentioned above, an image of whom was presented 
to the Eumeleidai by a father and son of the Flauii. He has 
been identified with the Thessalian hero mentioned in the 



(1) /. G. XIV, 715 = C. /. G. 5786 = Vaglaeri 1049; Ignarra. De phalriis 
92 f.; 96. 

(2) Stat, sil IV, 8, 49. See p. 182 (3). 

(3) Capasso-De Petra, Napoli greco-romana 59. Cp. Franz, C. /. G. Ill, 
p. 715; Avellino, Bull Nap, I (1843) 22. 

(4) von Wiiamowitz, Nach. von der kgh Gesells. der Wiss. (Gottingen) 
1895, 228 (24). 

(5) /. G. XIV, 723 = C. /. G. 5787 and add. p. 1254 = Vaglieri 1044; Cp 
/. G. XIV, 728 = C. /. G. 5802b. 

- 169- 



Homeric poems, the son of Admetus and Alcestis, but is 
probably another hero of Boeotian or Euboean extraction about 
whom nothing further is known (1). One legend seems, how- 
ever, to have made him Parthenope's father instead of 
Achelous (2). His name has been associated with the remains 
of what was apparently a circular temple located on the lower 
decumanus near the Porta Puteolana. Near this place was 
unearthed the large pedestal recording the gift of T. Flauius 
Pius. Although this identification is quite uncertain, it is 
more probable than others which have been suggested (3). 
The names of the phratries Eunostidai and Aristaioi indicate 
that their members honored respectively as guardian deities 
Eunostus, the hero of Tanagra, and Aristaeus, who was highly 
honored in Boeotia and Euboea (4). The eponymous heroes 
that may have served as the objects of the cult of the Theotadai 
and the Pankleidai are altogether unknown (5). 

Artemis received the special devotion of the Artemisioi 
according to a recently discovered inscription, which demon- 
strates the intimate relations existing between goddess and 
phratry (6). The origin of the phratry*s name was formerly 
disputed, although the true derivation was conjectured long 
ago by Martorelli (7) . The new inscription, a long document 
belonging to the reign of Septimius Severus (194 A. D.), shows 
that through all the vicissitudes of the centuries, amid the 

(1) Beloch 148; Franz, C. /. G. Ill p. 716; Vollmer, Stat, sil. p. 490; 
Schiff, Eumeleidai, P.-W. VI, 1078. 

(2) Stat.' si IV, 8, 49; Franz, C. /. G. HI, p. 716; tlberg, Parthenope, 
Roscher III, 1653; Heydemann, Eumelos und Parthenope in Arch. Zeit. XXIV 
(1866) 136. 

(3) Capasso-De Petra, Napoli greco-romana 95. 

(4) Gruppe 367; Schiff, Eunostos 2) P.-W. VI, 1136. The cult of Aris- 
taeus at Neapolis is not recognized by Hiller von Gartringen, Aristaios, P.-W. 
II, 854. 

(5) Franz, C. /. G. Ill p. 716. 

(6) Rev. arch. XXI (1913) 476; Mallardo, Nuova epigrafe grecoAatina 
delta fratria napoletana degli Artemisi in Memorie Nap. II (1913) 150-175; 
Maiuri, La nuova iscrizione della fratria napoletana degli Artemisi in Studi 
romani I (1913) 21-36; De Marchi, Studi romani I (1913) 326-328; De Sanctis, 
Kev. Spigr. II (1914-15) 306-309. 

(7) Martorelli, De regia theca calamaria 620 f. ; Ignarra had thought that 
the name came from the promontory of Artemisium in Euboea. Ignarra, De 
phratriis 156. 

- 170 - 



development of other interests and other lines of thought the 
Neapolitans with great conservatism adhered to their early 
form of organization and still scrupulously maintained the 
worship of the deities of the phratry. The record is in honor 
of L. Munatius Hilarianus, a benefactor of the phratry, who 
had improved their quarters by embellishing the chief room 
(olxoc), added a banquet-hall (SoTta^piov) better than that of any 
other phratry, and finally constructed a shrine (vs&c) for the 
worship of Artemis worthy both of the deity and of the organ- 
ization. As a consequence, the phratry wished to reward him 
with numerous tokens of their esteem, comprising the right to 
dispose of fifty places at entertainments of the phratry, and 
statues and pictures of himself and his deceased son, only a 
part of which he accepted (I). The son, a member of this 
phratry, had been deified after his death and now received 
the observances due to a hero (2). Maiuri believes that his 
cult was due not so much to the survival of ancient ideas in 
the phratry as to the influence of associations and societies 
developing in the Greco-Roman period (3). 

From the evidence of this inscription we get a good idea 
of the various features of social and religious life in the phratry 
both of which were carried on in the rooms of the common 
property. We are not to suppose any innovations or extension 
of activity at this time but merely the restoration on a more 
magnificent scale of the shrine and the room for entertainments. 
Yet their original equipment was probably less, and was 
perhaps limited to one apartment, the ohos hpo<; for attending 
to the religious duties of the phratry and preserving any sacred 



(1) The term X<*>P a S **as been ex P lamed in various ways. Maiuri, 
op. cit. 30 takes it to mean parcels of ground; De Marchi, op. cit. 327, the 
privilege of conferring fifty menberships in tie organization. The interpre- 
tation given above is that of De Sanctis, Rev. epigr. XI (1914) 307. 

(2) Mallardo, op. cit. 172; De Marchi, op. cit. 328. Cp. Deneken, 
Heros, Roscher I, 2516 f. Mallardo c : tes a number of cases of the appearance 
of the term hero in epitaphs from Sicily (/. G. XIV 223-230), Rome and vi- 
cinity (/. G. XIV 1327, 1343, 1480, 1649, 1755, 1810, 2133), and Forum lulu 
(/. G. XIV, 2379). 

(3) Maiuri, op. cit. 33. For the worship of heroes in the Greek asso- 
ciations generally cp. Poland, Geschichte des griechischen Vereinwesens 228 f. 

- 171 - 



objects it might possess (1). Under the influence of the various 
collegia in Roman times the activity of the phratries gradually 
enlarged, and at the same time was more specialized by dis- 
tribution among a series of rooms. The ohoc, became now the 
chief room and was used for assemblies. The religious activity 
in honor of a patron deity, which was always important, was 
now provided with a regular shrine for the display of the 
common piety (2). 

It is more difficult to trace the worship of gods not directly 
connected by name with the phratry. The dedication of images 
of Castor and Pollux in the organization called Eumeleidai 
does not necessarily indicate that they were here looked upon 
as special patrons, for the dedication of the statue of one god 
in the sanctuary of another was a common occurrence. The 
successful athletes, who made the donation wished to honor 
the Dioscuri as divinities interested in sports, and so set up 
the statues where they would conduce to the adornment of 
their own phratry, an action which received due recognition 
from this source. Then to make the tribute to the gods complete 
the parents added altars and lights (3). 

Another inscription, already mentioned as recording the 
gift of a freedman of Nerva to the Kymaioi, was inscribed upon 
a pedestal which exhibits in the form of sculptured reliefs the 
figures of three gods, - Hephaestus, Dionysus, and Heracles. 
The first is engaged in the manufacture of a shield, the second, 
accompanied by a panther, has his customary emblems, the 
thyrsus and the cantharus, while the last has in his possession 
the vanquished dog of Hades. On account of their connection 
with the inscription it has been maintained by Engelmann and 
Usener that these three deities are the Gsol tppazpioi of this 
division of the people (4). The former sees in this worship 



(1) Maiuri, op. cit. 28; Mallardo, op. cit. 164. Cp. Dittenberger, Sylloge 
inscriptionum graecarttm II, 360; Polan'l, Geschichte des gr. V ereinwesens 465. 

(2) Kotvdg, as used here refers only to the phratry. 

(3) /. G. XIV, 748= C. /. G. 5805 = VagIieri 2163. Commentary by Ci- 
vitelli, / nuovi frammenti d'epigrafi greche relative ai ludi augustali di Napoli in 
Atti Nap. XVII (1894) part 2, No. 3, 44. 

(4) Engelmann, Arch. Zeit. XXXI (1874) 133; Usener, Dreiheit in Rh. 
Mas. LVIII (1903) 16; cp. Hofer, Phratrioi, Roscher, III, 2457; Farnell V, 395. 

- 172 - 



the cult of a triad of gods, which was transmitted from Chalcis 
through the medium of Cumae, and considers that their only 
relationship or basis of existence as a triad is the circumstance 
that they were worshipped by a common body. But von Wila- 
mowitz does not regard the identity of the figures as certain, 
and denies in any event that they were phratry gods (1). In 
all probability the reliefs were intended merely as a work of 
art for decorative purposes. 

It is probable that the number of phratries was twelve, 
most of whose names are known. One name, that of the Anti- 
noitai, manifestly can not be dated earlier than the reign of 
Hadrian, when the cult of the Emperor's favorite Antinous 
came into vogue. One set of inscriptions preserves the names 
of two men who are called Sufenas and are described as 
members not only of this phratry but also of the Eunostidai (2). 
To explain this peculiarity different theories have been pro- 
posed none of which has met with general acceptance. Beloch, 
followed by Schiff and Capasso, considers that only one phratry 
is represented by the double name, and that the organization 
formerly honoring as chief patron the Boeotian hero from 
Tanagra later gave the place of preeminence in its cult to the 
deified Antinous without entirely neglecting the older god (3). 
Schiff sees a point of contact between the two divinities tending 
toward their identification in the circumstance that both ceased 
to live at any early age (4). On the other hand there is a 
probability that the Eunostidai were different from the Anti- 
noitai, and that the Sufenates were members of two organi- 
zations, - a state of affairs due to the fact that the old definite 
distinctions between the phratries had broken down after they 
lost their political importance (5). 



(1) von Wijamowitz (^c. cit.) who considers that Hephaestus &nd He- 
racles may well have been held in honor by an ex-slave. 

(2) C. I. L. VI, 1851 ; D. 6188. The three inscriptions belong to a monu- 
ment that was set up at Bovillae. The Sufenates belonged to the equestrian 

order and attained a number of distinctions. 

(3) Beloch 42; Schiff, Eunostidai, P.-W. VI, 1136; Capasso-De Petra, 
op. cit. 7; Ignarra, op. cit. 119. 

(4) Schiff, P.-W. VI, 1136. 

(5) The exact manner in which the Antinoitai were formed according 

- 173 - 



PARTHENOPE. 

The most distinctive and one of the most interesting 
Neapolitan cults is that of Parthenope, the eponymous goddess 
of the ancient community, who was identified by the people 
with one of the three female deities known as the Sirens (1). 
These were not revered collectively here as at Surrentum nor 
did those qualities appear strikingly in Parthenope which are 
usually assigned to them in myth and folk lore. Though 
portrayed with wings, she was not one of those ugly birds 
with human head which in popular belief, as depicted on 
countless vases, were the embodiment of departed souls (2). 
She was not on the other hand preeminently the seductive 
nymph of the Homeric poems, although the notion of her 
chagrin at the final failure of her musical powers was inter- 
woven into the legend of her death on this coast (3). It is 
true that since she was a Siren, the legend ordinarily repre- 
sented her influence as baleful, and associated her with the 
perils of a treacherous, if fair-appearing, sea. As one who 
had met death among the waves, her spirit was regarded 
as haunting this shore, powerful to wreak vengeance unless 
it were duly appeased with the tribute proper for a chthonic 
deity. But at the same time a tradition developed that Parthe- 
nope was good; as one who had defended her virginity 
against persistent attacks she received the epithet of saintly 

to this opinion is uncertain. Whether this was a fractional part of an older 
phratry, a combination of two which had suffered a decline, or an entirely 
new creation is disputed, but the second supposition seems most probable. 
Cp. Kaibel, /. G. XI v, p. 91; Capasso-De Petra, op. cit. 202; Maiuri, 36; 
Corcia, Storia delle due Sicilie II, 218; De Sanctis, Atthis, Storia della repub- 
blica ateniese (2) 47. 

(1) That Parthenope gave her name to the city is expressly stated by 
several Latin authors. List in Ilberg, Parthenope, Rosch&r III, 1654. 

(2) Weicker, Seirenen, Roscher IV, 608 f., and Der Seelenvogel 1 f. 

(3) Odyssey XII, 39-54, 166-200 contains the oldest literary account of 
the Sirens. Their death is first related by Lycophron who follows Timaeus 
713 f. Cp. Schol. to Lycophron 712; Schol. Odyssey XII 39; Sil. XII, 33. 
The fate of Parthenope is alluded to by Stephanus of Byzanti-m. 

Cp. Stat. sil. IV, 4, 51 ; Dion. Perieg. 358 with comments of Scholias* 
and Eustathius=Geograp/ii Graeci minores II p. 445, 280. 

- 174 - 



(i-)fV'^).(l)- Although associated hy EKonysius and Eustathius 
with Campania, she is probably influenced by the character- 
istics of the Sirens located in Sicily, who are represented as 
the faithful friends of Demeter in her affliction (2). De Petra 
maintains that the version of a beneficent Parthenope was 
eagerly accepted by the Neapolitans, since it tended to mag- 
nify their deity in public opinion, and consequently it obtained 
a firm hold in the popular belief, which survived in the 
Middle Ages (3). Then she had become the daughter of a 
Sicilian king, - a conception depending upon the circumstance 
that the human side of the Siren nature had long been empha- 
sized in accordance with a peculiarity of belief restricted to 
the West (4). 

A knowledge of the Sirens was brought to Italy by the 
early settlers, who were familiar with the localization of the 
Homeric enchantresses on its western shore (5). At Neapolis 
the cult of Parthenope was not introduced through the medium 
of the colony at Cumae, for indications of such a worship are 
totally lacking there. In fact according to tradition the Cumeans 
tried to destroy the town of Parthenope, thus doing violence 
to the goddess who bore its name, and only when they had 
become victims of a plague did they try to build up the city 
and promote zealously the cult of the eponymous deity. It is 
true that this legend was probably a late invention designed 
to explain the origin of the Siren worship here, yet the language 
of the historian seems to imply a situation in which the 
Cumeans were dealing with a cult foreign to themselves and 

(1) Dionys, Perieg. 358; Eusfcalh. comm. ad Dionys. Perieg. 358; Schol. 
ad Dionys. 358; Krebs, Metiochos und Parthenope in Heimes XXX (1895) 144; 
Hofer, Metiochos Roscher II, 2938; Ilberg, Roscher III, 1655. 

(2) Ov. met. V, 550 f. Cp. Hyg. fab. 141 ; Apoll. Rhod. IV, 898; Claud- 
ian De raptu Proserpinae HI, 190. 

(3) De Petra, Partenope Sicula in Miscellanea Salinas 85 and Le sirene 
del mar tirreno in Atti Nap. XXV (1908) part I, 27 f. Cp. Weicker, Der See- 
lenvogel 61. 

(4) Cronaca di Parthenope, quoted by De Petra, Le Sirene del mar 
tirreno 27 f . ; Boccaccio, Ameto Vol. XV, 139 (opere volgari, Firenze 1833). 
According to th's account Parthenope's tomb showed the following words: 
Qui Partenope vergine Sicula morta giace. 

(5) See p. 14. 

- 175 - 



existent at Neapolis before any settlement of theirs in that 
spot (1). The worship of Parthenope alone was restricted to 
this one place, although Lycophron erroneously represents it 
as more widely extended. He says that she was welcomed 
by the dwellers on the banks of the Clanius (rXdvic), which 
is called by Tzetzes in his comment a river of Cumae. But 
here the learned Alexandrian, striving for a display of eru- 
dition rather than for plain accuracy, has confounded this 
stream with the Sebethus (2). 

The main fact in this cult was the grave, which the 
people of Neapolis were able to show as a proof of their special 
relations with the goddess (3). Here the body had been 
washed ashore and piously interred by the inhabitants, and 
here the rites of libation and sacrifice of oxen were performed 
in her honor as to a hero (4). At the tomb was erected a 
shrine, utilized perhaps as an oracle, within which was an 
image of the deity, who was probably represented in the guise 
of a young woman with wings (5). In this manner she is 
portrayed on a sardonyx in the British Museum, - a type 

(1) Lutatius Daphnis fr. 2 = Philargyrius on Verg. georg. IV, 564 = Peter, 
Hist. Rom. frag. p. 126; Lutatius, lib. MI elicit, Cumanos incolas a parentibus 
d'gressos Parthenopen urbem constituisse, dictam a Parthenope Sirena, cuius 

corpus etiam postquam ob locorum ubertatem amoenitatemque magis 

coepta sit frequentare, ueritos ne Cymaeam desererent inisse consilium Par- 
thenopen diruendi Post etiam pestilentia affectos ex responso oraculi urbem 
restituisse sacraque Parthenopis cum magna religione suscepisse, nomen au- 
tem Neapoli ob recentem institutionem imposuisse. Cp. Weicker, Der Seelen- 
vogel 64. 

(2) Lye. Alex 7\7, f. 

tyjv piv &a.\r\poi) wpaiQ £xj3s(3paa{isvY}v 
Thrives ts peLQpot.£ dsgexat, xsyy^v x^va. 

Xoc(3a£at %<xX GoaGAotat IlapGevdTCYjv powv 
ixsta xoSavodatv' occovov Gsccv. 

(3) Strab. I, 2, 13: £v NearcoXst IlapGsvoTtTjs dsfovoxat p,v7?p,a p,tdc£ Tt5v 
Sstp^vwv. Cp. V, 4, 7; Plin. nat. Ill 62; Suet. fr. 203 (Reifferscheid p. 350). 

(4) Lycophron, loc. cit. 

(5) Suidas H-ipfy. sv ^ IlapGevdTCYjs I'dpuxat Ssipyjvos 5yaX|xa. Older writers 
such as Capaccio, Historia Neapolitana I, 25 conceive of Parthenope in the 
common Siren form as a bird with human face, but the ugliness of such an 
image would be repugnant to Greek taste. Cp. however Regling, Terina, Pro- 
gramm zum Winc^elmannsfeste 1906, 62. 

- 176 - 



which may be connected with the contests held yearly in her 
honor. This festival was inaugurated by the Athenian nauarch 
Diotimus* probably the son of Strombichus, who about the 
year 430 B. C. dtiring a lull in the Peloponnesian War touched 
at the port of Neapolis; here he sacrificed to Parthenope at 
the suggestion of an oracle and instituted a torch race (1). 
This information, which depends on Timaeus, an authority 
on the affairs of the Western Greeks, is the earliest reference 
to Parthenope's cult, and shows that this had been practiced 
before the fifth century B. C. At that time it was brought 
into relation with the Delphic oracle, which as a means for 
averting some unknown danger or disaster threatening Athens 
or the Athenian possessions ordered that Parthenope should 
be propitiated. The peculiar form of the expiation, manifesting 
itself as a torch race, corresponded to current Athenian 
usage (2). 

The torch race thus introduced was # repeated each year 
by the inhabitants, thus becoming a counterpart of the Athenian 
Panathenaia, and like it was perhaps exhibited with increased 
magnificence the third year of each Olympiad (3). Though 
other competitive events were doubtless added in the course 
of time, the race with lighted torches would remain the central 
feature of the celebration. The gem alluded to above pictures 
the Siren holding in her right hand a torch and a wreath, 
while raised upon her left shoulder is an amphora, which 
may represent a prize offered to the winner. As at Athens 
the victor received an oil lamp, so here he would get a jar 
of wine (4). We are informed that the expenses incurred in 



(1) Schol. on Lye. 732=Tirhaeus, fr. 99 (Muller). Cp. Lye. 732; Beloch 
30; A. Sambon, Lea tnonnaies antiques de Yltalie I, 172 (2); De Petra, Le ori- 
gini di Napoli in Atti Nap. XXIII (1905) 45; Ilberg, Parthenope, Roscher III, 
1654; Correra, Le piu antiche monete di Napoli in Rend. Nap. XVI (1902) 
105; Helbig, Sopra le relazioni commerciali degli Ateniesi coll' Italia in Rend, 
dei Lincei series 4, V part 1 (1889) 82. 

(2) Weicker, op. cit. 61 f . ; cp. Diels, Sibyllinische Blatter 47 f. 

(3) Lye. Alex. 737; Weicker, op. cit. 63. 

(4) Panofka, Arch. Zeit. X (1852) 477, PI. 44, No. 3. The interpretation 
suggested by Panofka has net found general accept nee. Muller thought that 
fhe Siren wa3 represented as bearing a \ urn to a funeral pyre and Furtwangler, 
that she is trying to entice to nocturnal revels. MullerAV'eseler, Denkmaler der 

- 177 - 

12 



maintaining the cult were provided for by the income derived 
from tracts of land set apart for Parthenope's benefit (1), 

The location of grave and shrine has been much disputed 
by local topographers. De Petra, examining exhaustively the 
different theories, finds two main views on the subject, which 
follow popular tradition transmitted from the ancient world (2), 
These he thinks originated in the first settlements made in 
this region, which he professes to be able to identify definitely 
with certain points within the limits of the modern Naples. 
Thus he locates in the district of S. Lucia the Rhodian colo- 
nists, who claimed to possess the tomb in their territory on 
the Pizzof alcone ; he likewise assumes that this claim was 
contested by the men from Cumae who maintained that they 
themselves were its possessors (3). According to the second 
claim the tomb was located farther east within the old walled 
city of Roman times. Fabio Giordano, who is followed by 
Capasso, had placed it in the most elevated part of this district 
where the church of S. Aniello was erected (4); whether 
Pontano agreed with this assignment or wished to have it on 
the present site of S. Giovanni Maggiore is disputed (5). The 
main idea in any case was to select a hill overlooking the 

alten Kunst II No. 753; Furtwangler, Die antigen Gemmen PL 10, No. 24. 
Portrayed also in Imhoof-BIumner und Keller, Tier und Pflanzenh ; lder auf 
Mtinzen und Gemmen PI. XXVI, 32 and Millin, Galerie mythologique PI. 
LXXX, No. 312. 

(1) Gromatici veteres p. 235 (Lachmann) : Neapolis: ager eius Sirenae 
Parthenopae a Graecis est in iugeribus ads'gnatus. 

(2) De Petra, Le Sirene del mar tirreno in 'Atti Nap. XXV (1908) 15 f. 
The author cites the Cronaca di Parthenope and Boccaccio's Amadeo as em- 
bodying popular tradition. 

(3) On. the basis of the two conflicting theories De Petra op. cit. 27 
expla'ns an obscure passage in Solinus 2, 9: Parthenope a Parthenopae SU 
renis sepulchro, quam Augustus postea Neapolim esse maluit. He emends 
Neapolim to Neapoli, and understands quam as an allusion to the Siren. The 

sentence then means that Augustus, judging the two versions, decided for the 
tomb at Neapolis. 

(4) Fabio Giordano (quoted by Capasso-De Petra, op. cit. 197 (277); 
Capaccio, Historia Neapolitana 34; Pontano, De hello Neapolitano VI, 143 
(ed. Gravier, Naples 1769). 

(5) De Petra op. cit. 20 f . ; Capasso-De Petra, op. cii. 198; Pirro, Nuovo 
contributo alia storia e topografia di Napoli greca in Studi stor. per Vantichita, 
claeaica V (1912) 289. 

- 178 - 



water, and it is needless to add that the archaeological evi- 
dence sometimes adduced to support their theories is value- 
less (I). 

Lycophron, alluding to the Siren's arrival, says that she 
was received near the tower of Phalerum and the Clanius 
River, where the natives prepared for her a tomb (2). In this 
allusion the poet has in mind the Sebethus, which flows into 
the sea not far from the city; employing the names « river » 
and ((fortress », he refers to the city's territory as a whole, and 
there is nothing in his language as stated by Beloch to show 
that he wished to indicate especially the mouth of the stream 
as the location of the tomb (3). Beloch's own opinion that 
it stood at the entrance of the harbor southwest of the Porto 
Piccolo is based upon the belief that Parthenope was a sea 
divinity, whom the citizens wished to protect their shipping. 
But Parthenope was worshipped more as a hero or chthonic 
power than as a real sea goddess such as Euploea or Leucothea, 
and the passages cited to prove the proposed location are 
without importance. The term portus in the statement of 
Statius that the Siren established herself in a western harbor, 
designates Neapolis in general without any emphasis on the 
actual coast line (4). 

In the case of Strabo, who uses the word Setxvorat in 
reference to the grave, Beloch asserts that the author was 
following a Periplus, which pointed out the monument as 
something visible from a passing ship (5). But while the 
general order of localities treated in this part of the Geography 
suggests such a source, there is nothing to indicate that it 
was followed in handling details. When we consider the 
material that both precedes and follows the passage under 
discussion, we must either admit that the Periplus did not 

(1) Capasso-De Petra, op. cit. 197-198. 

(2) Lye. 'Alex, 7\7. 

(3) Beloch 77. Cp. Garrucci, he monete dell 'Italia antica 82. 

(4) Stat. *i7. IV, 4,52: Ubi Ausonio se condit hospita portu Parthenope. 
Cp. Vollmer's Statius p. 436, note to III, 5, 79. 

(5) Strab. V, 4, 7 : Msxad£ Aixatdpxstdv ia-ct NsocrcoXts KuptaCtov— 6^ou 
8stouxat fiv%a xa>v Zzipfftwv fua$ IIap8evdTCY}£, xai &ym otmsXsftai wvixos 
xaxa jiavTstav. Beloch loc. cit, 

- 179 - 



limit itself to an enumeration of prominent objects on the 
shore or that the author did not follow it carefully, - in either 
case finding no clue to the location of the tomb. Moreover 
Beloch himself in another place has avoided the difficulty by 
supposing that no Periplus, such as that of Artemidorus, was 
exclusively used in this section of the work but that instead 
there were large additions from other .sources, chiefly 
Timaeus (1). It is noteworthy that the word appears elsewhere 
in quite a different connection, in an expository passage where 
there could be no employment of a Periplus (2). In truth 
the word employed is merely the natural one to adopt in 
both passages in alluding to a show place of the city, - a me- 
morial to which every Neapolitan would point with pride, 
and which had been shown to Strabo as to visitors in general. 
But while these citations prove nothing about the location of 
the tomb, it was likely that it was situated somewhere along the 
coast simply because the Siren's body was washed ashore 
by the waves. As the graves of Palinurus and Misenus occupied 
lofty promontories, so the sepulcher of Parthenope in accord- 
ance with the words of Statius should have some sightly 
location on the shore; the exact place can not be determined (3). 
Some numismatists have recognized the Siren in the fe- 
male head which appears on Neapolitan silver coins in endless 
variety from the earliest period (4). She is generally repre- 
sented in profile but also appears full faced with streaming 
hair, thus recalling Syracusan money with the likeness of 
Arethusa. Evans promulgated a theory that the Syracusan 
money was influenced by that of Neapolis; but this seems 
less plausible than to suppose that the latter was affected by 

(1) Beloch, Le fonti di Strabone nella descrizione della Campania in 
Atti dei Lined series III, X (1882) 442; GefFcken, Timaios* Geographic des 
Westens 37. 

(2) Strab. I, 2, 13: ev NsantfXet IlapOsvdTnjs Sefovoxat, fivfjjia {ua$ 

twv SstpVjvcov. 

(3) Stat. sil. V, 3, 104 relates that she was buried upon a wind-swept 
mountain (adflato monte). But there is nothing to connect these words with 
the medieval Porta Ventosa above the harbor near the University. Cp. De 
Petra, Atti Nap. XXV (1908) 23 (2). 

(4) A. Sambon 193 f . ; Head Hist. num. 38; Gardner, The Types of 
Creek Coins PL XI, Nos. II, 14; Garrucci, Pi. 84. 

- 180 - 



the former (1). Older scholars thought these heads a repre- 
sentation of Artemis, and some of the more recent authorities 
see in them Nice or a personification of the Genius of the 
city (2). But the Siren herself has all the attributes of a 
Genius or protecting spirit, and when the indubitable impor- 
tance of her cult is taken into consideration, it is difficult to 
believe that the coinage was not to some degree influenced 
by it, or that another Genius could exist by her side endowed 
with enough vigor to maintain her independence (3). The 
latter would tend to blend with the former and thus lose her 
individual identity. The use of Nice on these coins is not 
improbable in itself, but seems less likely than the omission 
in the coinage of any trace of the distinctive deity of the 
city (4). 

The influence of the Siren worship still lingers among 
the people of Naples, and this deity has given a name to an 
important class of amulets against the terrors of the « evil eye ». 
These sirene belong for the most part to the variety of pro- 
phylactics that are hung up in a house to protect the inmates, 
and are of two general kinds. In the one class the Siren 
appears alone either as a bird with human head or, as is 
more often the case, in the form of a woman wearing a 
crown, whose body terminates in a double fish tail adorned 
with silver bells. In the second class she is borne by two 
sea-horses, also a powerful protection against malign influen- 
ces (5). 

(1) Evans, Syracusan « Medallions » and their Engravers in Num. Chron. 
series III, IX (1891) 279 f. The intermediate model for trie Neapolitan issued 
was probably Terina. Pais, Ancient Italy 191 = Ricerche stor. e geogr. 239; 
A. Sambon, Les monnaies antiques de V Italic I, 173, and La cronologia delle 
monete di Neapolis in Kit?, ltal di Numis. XV (1902) 121 f. ; But cp. Correra, 
he piu antiche monete di Nafioli in Rend. Nap. XVI (1902) 97-98; L. Sambon, 
Les monnaies de la presqu'Ue italique 147. 

(2) Eckhel, Doctr. num. vet. I, 112; Ilberg, Roscher III, 1654; A. Sam- 
bon, Riv. ital di numis. XV (1902) 121. 

(3) Gardner op. cit. 45 ; Garrucci 82 ; von Duhn, Der Dioskurentempel 
in Neapel 14. 

(4) Cp. Eckhel, loc. cit.; Head 39; De Luynes, Ann. Inst. XIII (1841) 
132; A. Sambon, I, 173, 176. This identification is accepted by Grose, Some 
Rare Coins of Magna Graeda in Num. Chron. LXIII (1916) 202. 

(5) Elworthy, The Evil Eye 357 and Evil Eye in Hastings Encycl. of 
Relig. and Ethics; Neville-Rolf e, Naples in EncycL Britannica (11) XIX, 
181; S. Seligman, Der Boseblick und Verv^ndtes II, 148, 310. 

- 18? - 



ZEUS. 

No mention has been preserved of a cult of Zeus or 
Jupiter. Yet Zeus was unquestionably prominent in the relig- 
ious life of Cumae and in that of a still older ancestor 
Chalcis, and ordinarily had a shrine in Greek communities. 
These indications, therefore, point to the presence of a 
sanctuary here and to a cult that attained only a secondary 
rank because of the unusual prominence of other gods. Capasso 
assigned to Neapolis a cult of Jupiter Flazzus, but the ori- 
gin of the inscription which he used for evidence is uncer- 
tain (1). Attempts have been made to determine the location 
of a temple here; thus Capasso thought that ancient remains 
uncovered beneath the Cathedral should be referred to that 
edifice, and Fabio Giordand long ago wished to associate 
it with the site of the church of the SS. Apostoli in the 
northeastern corner of the ancient city (2). But in this case 
as in many others which have been treated by local topog- 
raphers, the identification rests upon no competent evidence. 

APOLLO. 

Apollo is enumerated as one of the dii patrii who in the 
form of a bird pointed out the way across the sea to the 
ancestors of the Neapolitans, when they founded the first 
Greek colony in Italy. For this reason he received the grateful 
adoration of the city. Giinther sees an allusion to Apollo's 
guidance in the figure of a dove in a glass mosaic of the 
first century A. D. which was found at Posilipo. But this 
more probably is a mere decorative design (3). Apollo' s image 

(1) See the addenda p. 396. 

(2) CapassoDe Petra, Napoli greco-rotnana 61 ; Fabic Giordano, un- 
published Historia Neapolitana, quoted by Capasso-De Petra 174 (130). 

(3) Stat.-«il. IV, 8, 45-49. 

Di patrii, quos auguriis super aequora magn's 
Htus ad Ausonium deuexit Abantia classis, 
tu, ductor populi longe migrantis, Apollo 
cuius adhuc uolucrem laeua ceruice eedenten 
respiciens blande felix Eumelis adorat. 

von Duhn, op. cit. 12; Giinther, Pausilypon 89 and A Maral Glass Mosaic in 

A rchaeologia LXI 1 1 (1911-12) 105 (the mosaic reproduced in both works). Cp. 

MacchioTO, Neapolis II (1914-15) 364. The motive is not infrequent in mosaics. 

See Rusch, Guida Nos. 161, 173. 

- 182 - 



is recognized upon silver didrachmas of the second half of 
the fourth century B. C. and also upon silver obols of the 
same period. These issues, which have on the reverse in one 
case the figure of a horseman and in the other that of Heracles 
throttling a lion, are undoubtedly due to the influence of 
Tarentum, a city with which Neapolis had important business 
relations (1). But the employment of the head of Apollo to 
mark the obverse is due rather to the local importance of the 
god, as he does not figure prominently in the coinage of 
Tarentum. A little later, at the beginning of the third century 
he appears upon three obol pieces, also of silver, where he 
is always the youthful deity laurel crowned (2). Still more 
frequently he forms the design upon pieces of bronze, and 
indeed his likeness was in use all through the fourth and 
third centuries B. C. as long as the city issued money. His 
face is the regular device in five of the eight important divi- 
sions of the city's bronze money (3). The figure of a tripod 
upon one division of the coinage in this metal is a reminiscence 
of this god. While its presence may be easily accounted for 
as an effect of the local cult of Apollo, the adoption of this 
particular symbol is perhaps due to outside influence (4). 

Although there is every indication that this god was much 
esteemed and publicly honored, it is not likely that he was 
one of the more popular divinities in the sense of receiving 
requests to meet specific needs. Evidence for votive offerings 
is lacking save in one instance, and here he is no longer a 
pure Greek divinity, but has been merged in the Egyptian 
Horus-Harpocrates in connection with the worship of Isis (5). 
He certainly had a temple, probably of imposing character, 
in which stood a cult statue with a dove perched upon the 
left shoulder. This then was itself a very ancient image, or 



(1) A. Sambon p. 180 and Nos. 396, 427-434. Cp. also Nos. 423-426. 
Head, op. cit. 62. 

(2) A. Sambon 244, Nos. 553-559. 

(3) A. Sambon 246 f. 

(4) The tripod figures especially on the money of Croton. Head 95 ; 
P. Gardner, The Types of Greek Coins XVI No. 1. 

(5) See p. 215. 

- 183 - 



reproduced faithfully the old tradition (1). Not far away was 
the statue of a nymph called Eumeiis, who is probably 
identical with Parthenope. There is no reason for putting these 
statues, as von Duhn thinks, either in the temple of the 
Dioscuri or near the tomb of the Siren (2). 

The location of the sanctuary is doubtful. During the 
Middle Ages the present Strada del Duomo, passing through 
the central part of the old Greek walled city from north to 
south bore the name Radii Solis. This was supposedly derived 
from a temple of Apollo as god of the sun, and therefore 
the early antiquarians sought to locate the edifice on this 
Street on the site of the present Cathedral (3). A somewhat 
more probable location is the attiguous church of S. Restituta 
going back to the seventh century (4). This now forms the 
northern part of the Cathedral edifice and faces toward the 
Strada AnticagHa, which corresponds to the upper decumanus 
of the old city, one of its three main arteries of traffic. Such 
a location is in accord with the theory developed by Beloch 
that the temples of the three principal cults included in the 
term dii patrii were located each on a different decumanus, 
and that the most northerly of these three streets, because 
of the temple situated upon it, received its name from the 
god (5). But the site of the church of the SS. Apostoli, which 
was proposed by Beloch himself, seems too remote from the 
center of town for so important a public cult (6). 



(1) Stat. loc. cit. and s'l. Ill, 5, 80: Ipse Dionaea monstrauit Apollo col- 
umba. Veil. I, 4: Huius classis cursum esse directum alii cdumbae antece- 
dentis uolatu feiunt. Summonte, Historia di Napoli I, 85. 

(2) von Duhn, op. cit. 14. 

(3) So in the sixteenth century Fobio Giordano, who speaks of archi- 
tectural remains including huge columns of great height and thickness (quot- 
ed by Capasso-De Petra 176 (147); in the eighteenth century Tutini, DeU 
Vorigine e fundatione de seggi di Napoli 17. Cp. Corcia, Storia d&Ue dud 

Sicilie II, 239. 

(4) Capasso-De Petra, op. cit. 59; Sorrentino, La basilica costantiniana* 
in Atti Nap. XXV (1908) parte seconda 274. 

(5) Beloch 70. 

(6) Capasso-De Petra op. cit. 58. 

- 184 - 



DEMETER. 

Demeter, introduced at Cumae by the Chalcidians, was 
brought in turn to Neapolis, where a flourishing cult soon 
developed. This was further strengthened by the influx of 
Athenian settlers; its ceremonies received the peculiar Attic 
impress, and the goddess henceforth could be properly de- 
scribed under that epithet (Actaea) (1). While she was 
primarily an earth divinity and so interested in agriculture, 
she was venerated here particularly as Thesmophorus, a title 
which apparently alludes to her function as a patroness of 
orderly civil society, but which in reality, as shown by Farnell, 
indicates her power to promote fertility. Actually she was 
chiefly a goddess who protected women, and it may be 
inferred that here as elsewhere the festivals appropriate to 
her cult were celebrated by this element of the population (2). 
The Athenian influence in promoting the cult of Demeter- 
Thesmophorus is unmistakable but it is more questionable 
whether, as is sometimes assumed, there was here a branch 
of the Eleusinian mysteries (3). From the passage of Statius 
cited above it is clear that there was some kind of ceremony 
of a mystic character in which the bearing of torches was a 
prominent feature. Here the initiates with silent but rapid 
course acted a sort of religious drama, as they accompanied 
Demeter, the sorrowing mother, in her search for the kidnapped 
Persephone (4). Capasso supposed that competitions in poetry, 
if not in athletics, were held in conjunction with festivals of 
this divinity, and cited a passage of Statius, who speaks of 
receiving at Neapolis Cerealia dona. But the reference is rather 
to wreaths of grain which the victorious competitor in poetry 



(1) Stat, sil IV, 8, 50, quoted on p. 64 (1) Cp. Capasso-De Petra, Napoli 
greco-romana 77. 

(2) Bloch, Kora und Demeter, Roscher II, 1329, 1331 ; K«rn, Demeter, 
R-W. IV, 2752; Farnell, The Cults of the Greek States III, 75 f., 105. 

(3) Bloch, Roscher II, 1337; Gruppe 1496; Farnell 201. 

(4) Foucarat, Les mysteres d'Eleusis 464; Farnell III, 181; Capas*o-De 
Petra 78, 184 (212). 

- 185 - 



received at the celebrated games in honor of Augustus (1). 

The priesthood of Demeter, which sometimes at least was 
held for life, was considered an honor worthy of matrons in 
the highest social position. Two of their names have been 
preserved. The first is that of Tettia Casta, who died in 71 
A. D. after having filled her office in an exemplary manner; 
in return for her faithfulness as well as her liberality in pro- 
viding statues of the gods to beautify the city she received 
the tribute of a statue and a crown and was buried at public 
expense (2). The other priestess, recorded in an inscription 
the genuineness of which has been doubted, was the matron 
Cominia Plutegenia, who clearly belonged to a family of some 
note (3). A third is mentioned in an inscription found at 
Pompeii, which some scholars have treated as of Neapolitan 
origin because the divinity is called legifera and a Greek version 
precedes the Latin (4). It will be treated among the cults of 
Pompei. 

Neapolis was extremely influential in spreading and popu- 
larizing the worship of Demeter throughout Italy. At the close 
of the period of the Roman Republic, after Cumae had suffered 
a great decline, this city and Velia were the two great centers 
for the propagation of the Demeter cult in its original Greek 
form. According to a statement of Cicero the priestesses who 
served the goddess at Rome came from these localities, and 
the women who are named in inscriptions attributed to Pom- 
peii and Puteoli perhaps had a similar origin (5). In an in- 
scription already cited there is apparently an allusion to a 
band of women living near the temple who devoted them- 

(J) Capasso-De Petra, op. cit. 184 (212); Stat, sil V. 3, 225-227: 
Ei mihi quod tantum patrias ego uertice frondes 
so'aque Chalcidicae Cerealia dona coronae 
te sub teste tuli. 

(2) /. G. XIV, 760 = C. /. G. 5838 = Vaglieri 1735. 

(3) /. G. XIV, 756a=C. /. G. 5799 = Vaglieri 1740. 

(4) /. G. XIV, 702 = C. /. G. 5865 = Vaglieri 1865. Tspsvxia IIapa|i,<5vY) 
t£psia A^jiYjxpog 0sap,ocp6poo. Cp. the comment of Franz on No. 5865: Beloch 
52; Capasso-De Petra, op. cit. 78. 

(5) C'c. Balb. 55: Has sacerdotes uideo fere aut Neapolitanas aut Ve- 
Henses fuisse, foederatarum sine dubio ciuitatum. C. /. L. X, 1812; J. G. XIV, 
702. See p. 26. 

- 186 - 



selves to the goddess under the charge of a priestess (1). 
Perhaps these women formed a school of instruction from 
which expert! in ritual went out to supply demands from 
other communities. 

The location of her temple is unknown, but as usual the 
historians and antiquarians of Naples have given several 
opinions on the subject. Fabio Giordano put it where the 
church of S. Giorgio Maggiore now stands, while Capaccio 
and Corcia more plausibly favored the site of S. Gregorio 
Armenio; in any case it is supposed to have stood in the 
southern part of the city (2). According to Beloch's hypothesis 
it was located in this district on the lower decumanus to which 
the goddess in consequence gave her name (3). It should 
be noted that if this view is true, the shrine was much more 
centrally located than seems to have been the case at Cumae, 
Pompeii and perhaps in other Campanian towns. 

DIOSCURI. 

The last divinities included by Statius in his roll of dii 
patrii are Castor and Pollux, who received here the same vener- 
ation as at Sparta. (4) No definite information is at hand 
about their functions, but they must have been the special 



(J) /. G. XIV, 760 = C. J. G. 5838, where tsp6 S is supplied. 6 (tspdg) 
t65v Yuvat>c(3v ol%o$ ; Capasso-De Petra op. cit. 78. 

(2) Fabio Giordano, cited by Capasso-De Petra, op. ci*. 184; Capaccio, 
Historia Neapolitana I, 189; Corcia, Storia delle due Sicilie II, 215. It is re- 
ported that statues and columns were removed from S. Gregorio as well as 
reliefs representing the rape of Persephone and the search of Demeter. A high 
relief, dep'cting a devotee with torch and basket is cited by Capasso as beneath 
the arch of the tower of this church, Capasso-De Petra op. cit. 78. 

(3) Beloch 70. 

(4) Stat. ail. IV, 8, 52: 

— et uos, Tyndaridae, quos non horrenda Lycurgi 
Taygeta umbrosaeque magis coluere Therapnae. 
The statement of Miss Taylor in reference to Ostia (Cults of Ostia 25) that 
the Dioscuri are not known to have had a temple in any other port town must 
be taken to include only those of Roman foundation ; otherwise it is contra- 
dicted by the example of Neapolis. But as the author cites Puteoli in the same 
passage, the assertion seems intended to be of general application. 

-' 187 - 



protectors of the cavalry and of seamen. (1) A series of bronze 
coins, exhibiting on one side a beardless male face and on the 
other a galloping horseman, has been regarded fcs a reference 
to the Dioscuri, but this identification is not certain. (2) With 
the supposition that these figures really allude to the Twins, 
it is not necessary to see the influence of Tarentum, for the 
local cult was important enough to account for their presence. 
(3) The dedication of statues of the Dioscuri in the year 
171 A. D. by two athletes, who were victorious in the quin- 
quennial games has already been discussed. In that instance 
these gods were brought into connection with the phratry of 
the Eumelidai. (4) 

Unlike the temples of Apollo and Demeter, that of Castor 
and Pollux can be definitely located, and in fact a portion of 
it has continued to remain till the present. Its survival is due 
to the circumstance that it was incorporated into the church 
of S. Paolo Maggiore at the beginning of the ninth century, an 
event recorded in an inscription of the Renaissance. (5) The 
cult of the Dioscuri was therefore carried on in the very center 
of the old town in the northwestern corner of the Forum; (6) 
the entrance of the shrine faced the central decumanus, which 
followed the line of the modern Strada de Tribunali. This 
building was undertaken by T. Iulius Tarsus, who agreed to 
provide not only the building but also the various accessories 

(1) See p. 66. 

(2) A. Sambon 192 and series VIII 278; Garrucci 83. 

(3) Minervini, Bull Nao. n. s. VI (1857) 59. 

(4) /. Q. XIV 748. 

(5) Et dirutis marmonbus Castori et Polluo* ralsis diis cb'catis, nunc 
Petro et Paulo ueris diuis ad faciliorem ascensum opus faciendum curauerunt 
clerici regulares MDLXXVIII. The transformation is further alluded to in coup- 
lets inscribed on the front of the church beneath the figures of Peter and Paul. 

Audiit uel surdus, Pollux cum Castore Petrum 

nee mora, praecipiti marmore uterque ruit. 

Tyndaridas uox missa ferit, palma integra Petri est, 

diuidit ac tecum, Paule, trophea libens. 
John the Deacon, Gesta episcoporum Neapolitanorum (for the years 801-807) 
50 in Waitz. Scri&tores rerum Longobardicatum et Italicarum 428. 

(S) The location of this temple in the Forum was recognized as far 
back as Fabio G ; ordano quoted by Capasso-De Petra, Napoli greco-romana 
178 (154). Cp. von Duhn, Der Dioskurentempel in Neapel 5. 

- 188 - 



of worship contained within it. He seems not to have lived to 
finish his undertaking, as it was completed and dedicated by a 
freedman named Pelagon. This inscription was chiselled upon 
the architrave in two lines; the original does not exist except 
in a small fragment recovered in 1901, but it was copied earlier 
when the facade of the temple was still in place. (I) As Iulius 
Tarsus was probably a freedman of Tiberius the Emperor, 
and Pelagon seems to have been a eunuch mentioned as an of- 
ficer under Nero, the date of the edifice to which the inscrip- 
tion alludes is indicated as about the middle of the first century 
of our era. (2) 

Of course this was not the first building dedicated to these 
deities at Neapolis, and Mallardo is clearly mistaken in using 
it as an example of a cult which received a shrine only at a late 
day. (3) There must have been a structure dedicated to them 
on this spot from the date of the arrival of settlers from Cumae, 
and it has been pointed out as early as the beginning of the 
seventeenth century that such a state of affairs is proved by the 
remains of the foundation walls, which include large rectan- 
gular blocks of stone as well as later stretches of opus reticula- 
tum. (4) The plan of the Imperial temple has been methodi- 
cally worked out by Rega. (5) Architecturally considered it 
belonged to the prostyle variety with six Corinthian columns 
extending in a line across the front and two more at the sides 
of the pronaos. This vestibule was reached by a long flight of 



n\ L G. XIV. 714 C. /. G. 5791 : TtfSpios 'IouXto^ Tdpooq Aiooxoftpoig 
xai x% ndXei zov vadv xa£ -ua iv xtp vatp HsXdywv Ssgaaxoo arcsXsoeepos *al 
£%ixpo%o<Z aovxeXdaae ix xtov ISCcov xaGiipwasv. Spinazzola, La iscrizione greca 
<**l tzmpio dei Dioscuri in "Arch. stor. Nap. XXV (190!) 315. 

f 2) Capasso~De Petra, op. cit. 79; Comrera, II tempio dei Dioscuri a 
Napoli in AtH Nap. XXIII (1905) part 2,214; Franz, C. /. G. No. 5791 ; Beloch 
33; von Duhn, op cit. 8. 

(3) Mallardo, Memorie Nap. II (1913) 166; cp. Summonte, Historia di Na- 
poli I, 87. 

(4) Capacciot, Historia NeapMana I, 190; Summonte, op. cit. I 80 > 
Correra, loc. cit.; von Duhn 9; Beloch loc. cit. In the seventeenth century 
«Guides» a fantastic opinion prevails that the temple of the Dioscuri was 
preceded by one of Apollo on the same site. Cp. Sarnelli, Guida di Napoli 
117; Summonte, op. cit. I 85. 

(5) Rega, Le vestigia del tempio di Castore e Pdlluce. 

- 189 - 



steps greater in number than the one which serves the church 
today, as the level of the ancient pavement was considerably 
lower than at present. The pediment was filled with a series 
of sculptures representing a group of divinities harmoniously 
arranged to fill all the available space. The main part of the 
building was a commodious cella. (1) 

To judge from the remarks of a traveler Cyriacus, who 
visited Naples in 1437 and tells of seeing a temple of Castor 
and Pollux, a considerable part of the shrine seems to have 
stood through the Middle Ages (2). In 1590 began an exten- 
sive restoration after which only the portico of eight columns 
remained from the ancient structure; its pediment, however, 
was still adorned with sculptured fragments in high relief of 
various gods of which only the central part was missing. (3) 
They included Apollo, Sebethus (or Oceanus ?), a personifica- 
tion of Campania and others whose identity is problematical. 
The whole of the portico was demolished by a violent earth- 
quake in 1688 with the exception of two of the pillars, which 
still stand in their old places. Two torsos belonging to large 
sculptured figures were discovered during the rebuilding of the 
church and were built into the front wall. They have been 
identified as Castor and Pollux, but whether they served as 
acroteria on the summit of the gable or stood in the middle of 
the pediment is disputed. (4) 

Here as in many other cases where temples were transformr 
ed into churches the old ideas connected with the pjace 
largely remained. The two saints Peter and Paul took over 
the activity of Castor and Pollux as gods who influenced the 

(1) The reconstruction of the temple is pictured by Rega op. cH. 1; 
*®B Duhn 9 ; Capasso-De Petra PI. XII ; Correra 227. 

(2) Cyriacus, quoted by Kaibel /. G. XIV, 714 and at greater length 
by Mommsen C. /. L. X, p. XXXVI. 

(3) A design of the front of the building drawn in 1540 by Francesco 
d'Olanda shows that the central sculptures had already fallen. Cp. von Duhn 
9. Various references to the building occur in the work of the sixteenth cen- 
tury writers such as Pighius and Surgente. Ihe history of the building is given 
by Correra 214. 

(4) Capasso-De Petra 187; Rega 12; von Duhn 12-20; Correra 224. 
They are said to have fallen miraculously as the result of a visit of St. Peter. 
Correra 225. 

- 190 - 



weather. They became Neapolitan weather saints ; one opened 
and the other closed the floodgates of Heaven. (I) 

Another saint, however, more commonly assumed the pre- 
rogatives of the Twins as saviors on the sea. This was St. 
Elmo, whose name is generally explained as a corruption of 
St. Erasmus. (2) It has been suspected that on the spot where 
the castle of S. Elmo now stands there was situated previously 
a chapel of the saint and still earlier a shrine of Castor and 
Pollux. In both cases patrons of navigation would be appro- 
priately honored. (3) 

HERACLES. 

As elsewhere in Campania the worship of Heracles or 
Hercules flourished at Neapolis, where he is said to have tar- 
ried on his journey from Spain to Sicily. That it was introduced 
here by the Rhodians and not derived through the medium of 
Cumae has already been declared to be its most probable 
origin. (4) An inscription ascribed to this city records the 
fact that the inhabitants of the regio Herculanensis decreed a 
statue to a benefactor Munatius Concessianus. (5) Documents 
of the Middle Ages which mention this district by the name 
Herculensis call it also furcillensis , thus apparently indicating 
the quarter of the present Strada Forcella. Pontano who evi- 
dently refers to the same place, mentions a district ad Her- 

(1) Trede, Das Heidentum in der rom. Kirche II, 313; Jaisle, Die Dios- 
kuren als Retter zur See bei Griechen und Komern 38, 39. 

(2) Acta sanctorum June I, 213, C; Encycl. Britannica, St. Elmo** 
Fire XXIV, 1. But cp. R. Harris, Boanerges 206. 

(3) Jaisle, op. cit. 69. Cp. Jameson, Sacred and Legendary Art. II, 
700 ; Harris, Cult of the Heavenly Twins in Trans, of 'he Third Inter. Con- 
gress for the History of Religions (1908) II, 176. For the traditions attached to 
this saint see Acta Sanctorum June I, 206 f. Harris, Boanerges 201 (6), dem- 
oinj&rating the displacement of the Dioscuri by St. Michael, cites a church 

dedicated to that saint which was destroyed by the last great outbreak of Mt. 
Vesuvius, but does not give its precise location. 

(4) Dion. Hal. I, 43. 

(5) C. /. L. X, !492 = D. 34>9 = Vagheri 1732: C.ncessiani. L. Munatio 

Concessiano obque testimonia amor*, sincerissimi reg. primaria splendi- 

dissima Herculanensium patrono mirabili statuam ponendam decreuit. 

- 191 - 



culis uiam. (1) The region denoted by the name of Heracles 
thus lay in the eastern part of town, and in this locality near 
the Porta Furcillensis Gabrici decides that he had a shrine. (2) 
His name has been likewise preserved in connection with the 
church of S. Maria ad Ercole (near S f Agostino), which was 
later called S. Elegio de' ferrari. (3) A reference to the god is 
seen upon the reverse of silver obols of the second half of the* 
fourth century B. C, where he is portrayed in the act of stran- 
gling a lion. (4) The same obols and bronze money of the 
same period or a little later exhibit a beardless, laurel crowned 
head, which is sometimes identified as a representation of 
Apollo. But the broad neck and somwhat coarse features of 
this figure are more suitable for Hercules than for the other 
divinity. (5) Although this series may show Tarentine influ- 
ence as is believed by most numismatists, this supposition is 
unnecessary to account for the presence of the god whose cult 
was of considerable importance in the community. (6) 

A Latin inscription refers to the construction of an aedi- 
cula by the demarch P. Vergilius Restitutus in honor of Her- 
cules Inuictus. Capasso wished to locate it near the Strada Ant 
ticaglia in the northern part of the old town, because the in- 
scription was found there, but this circumstance offers no ac- 
ceptable evidence. (7) If Neapolis was the Greek city which 
Petronius had in mind, another reference may be added to the 

(!) Libellus miraculorum S. Agrippini, quoted by Capasso, Monu- 
menta ad Neapolitani ducatus historiam pertinentia I, 325 and Mazochio, De 
sanctorum Neapolitanae ecclesiae episcoporum cultu 342. Capasso-De Petra, 
Napoli greco-romana 169, (98); Correra, Riv. it. di num. XVI (1903) 191; Pon- 
tano, Dz hello Neapolitano (ed. Gravier, Naples 1769) 144. 

(2) Gabrici, Reliquie di Napoli antica in Atti delVaccad. pont. XIX 
(1914) memoria 7 bis, 1, 10. 

(3) Capasso-De Petra, op. cit. 170 (109). 

(4) A. Sambon 1, 219 Nos. 427-434. 

(5) The identification with Apollo is favored by A. Sambon (doubt- 
fully) 180 (cp. 270 No. 705); Poole, Cat. Gr. Coins in the Brit. Mus. Italy 108; 
Garrucci 85 Nos. 23, 24. The claims of Hercules are advanced by Dressel, 
Beschreibung der antigen Miinzen HI 123 No. 143 and by Correra, Osserva- 
zioni intorno ad una moneta di Neapolis in Riv. it. di num. XVI (1903) 193. 
Other numismatists as Head Hist. rum. (1) 33 leave the question undecided. 

(6) Minervini, Bull Nap. n. s. VI (1858) 59. Hercules appears in the 
Campanian region on the coinage of Capua and Teanum. 

(7) C. /. L. X, 1478 = D. 6454. 

- 192 - 



evidence for Heracles. Here there is an allusion to the portico 
of his temple, where Lichas had been insulted. (I) That 
there was a temple at Neapolis besides the aedicula alluded to 
above may be accepted without question, but it is more dif- 
ficult to determine its site. Certain local topographers supposed 
that it occupied the site of one of the churches in the southeast- 
ern part of the city. Later students identified its location with 
that of the important church of S. Giovanni Maggiore near the 
southwestern edge of the old town and the harbor. (2) As a 
marble head of the youth Antinous was discovered here, it was 
once supposed that a temple had been erected in this spot by 
the Emperor Hadrian for his favorite either alone or as a 
member of a Pantheon. (3) In accordance with this belief 
an inscription giving a history of the edifice was placed above 
the church door; it begins with the words; templum hoc ab 
Hadriano imp. exstructum. But fragments of inscriptions discov- 
ered about the vicinity of the building indicate that it was 
constructed by one of the Emperors preceding Hadrian. Dur- 
ing a restoration of the church a fragmentary inscription in 
honor of Hercules was uncovered, which has lent probability 
to the suggestion that he had a shrine here. But the frequency 
with which pieces of marble were carried away from their 
original site and employed in building operations elsewhere 
does not permit a sure identification. (4) Pontano claims to 
have beheld many « monumenta » of this god. (5). 

(1) Petron. 106: Sod Lichas memor adhuc uxoris corruptee contumeli- 
arum quas in Herculis porticu acceperat . 

(2) Capasso-De Petra, op. tit. 170 (109). 

(3) Pontano. De Bello Neapolitano VI 146 (ed. of Gravier Naples 1769); 
Fabio Giordano, quoted by Lasena, Dell'antico ginnasio napoletano 104; 
Ignarra, De Phratriis 201. The latter believed that Hadrian had instituted a 

Pantheon, wishing to minimize the apparent attention to Antinous. This 
opinion is still held by Trede, Das Heidentum in d. rdm. Kirche I, 9. 

(4) /. G. XIV, 731 ; Garrucci in Galiani Rivista napoletana II (1873) 
Feb. 22 (known to me only in the citation of Capasso-De Petra 201 (295) er- 
roneously saw an allusion to Tiberius; Caligula .Claudius, or Nero may have 

been named. Sogliano Di un eptgrafe greca in 'Arch. stor. Nap. I (1876) 565 
is mistaken in asserting as a proof for the temple here that no other shrine 
of Hercules could be found between Cumae and the promontory of Minerva. 
Ail that can safely be said is that their existence can not be absolutely proved. 

(5) Pontano, op. cit, VI 144. For the possibility of Heracles as a god 
worshipped in one of the phrafcries see p. 172. 

- 193 - 

13 



DIONYSUS. 

As elsewhere in Campania the cult of Dionysus flourished 
at Neapolis, and this locality did its part in the propagation of 
the mysteries which developed such excesses in the North. 
The god was revered under the designation Hebon, a form of 
the cult which has not been found elsewhere. The name 
jeems to allude to his natural physical vigor and his youthful 
zest for life; yet he was not portrayed as a youth but rather 
as an old man of the type adopted by the Greeks for the depic- 
tion of Dionysus Bassareus. (1) In givinig reasons for sup- 
posing that Apollo and Liber Pater stand for the same deity, 
Macrobius says that the latter was conceived under different 
foims representing various ages, one of which was that of an 
elderly bearded personage whom the Neapolitans revered as 
Hebon. (2) He was also regularly described by a secondary 
epithet enKpavsamzos, an inclusive word referring to his illus- 
trious character and more especially to his power and willr 
ingness to give ready aid. (3) Two inscriptions mention him 
with this title; one is a dedication by C. Iunius Aquila, who 
held the principal official positions in the city, the other by 
P. Plotinus Glycerus has reference to his initiation into the 
Dionysiac mysteries. (4) 

Nothing is known about the details of this ritual in spite of the 
repeated appearance of Dionysus upon Campanian vases. 
From this source it appears that a female deity was closely 
associated with him, either Cora or a similar goddess. Lenor- 
mant maintained that this divinity was Hebe on the analogy 

(1) Cp. Hesychius «^p<xv ; Preller-Robert 717; Roscher, Hebon, Ro- 
scher I, 1871; Steuding, Flora, Roscher 1, 1484; Poland, Gesch. d. gr. Verein- 

toesens 226 ; Welcker, Griechische Gotterlehre II, 616, who derives from'HpY]. 

(2) Macxob. I, 18, 9: Item Liberi patris simulacra partim puerili aetate, 
partim iuuerrs fingunt. Praeterea barbata specie, senili quoque, uti Graeci 
eius quern Baaaapsa, item quern Bptaect appellant et ut in Campania Neapoli- 
tan! celebrant "HJJcovot cognominantes. Farnell rightly calls attention to the fact 
that the passage just cited represents the god in human form and not as 
tauriform with human face, - the asertion of F. Lenormant, Bacchus, D.-S. I, 
620. Farnell V, 251 (d). 

(3) Franz, C. /. G. note to No. 5790. 

(4) i. G. XIV, 716 = C. /. G. 5790 = Vaglieri 1081. 

■ - 194 - 



of the Dionysus cult at Phlius in Argolis, where Dia-Hebe had 
a part in the worship. (I) In the ceremonies there was proba- 
bly a dramatic representation of the future life. (2) The ini- 
tiates were called ^6sot or iuuenes, a name harmonizing with 
the cult epithet and the real nature of the god rather than with 
his actual appearance. (3) The language used in reference 
to Glycerus indicates that he had reached the highest degree 
of perfection possible, therefore it tends to show that there was 
a regular stage of advancement as was elsewhere com- 
mon. (4) From the reading of the text it is uncertain whether 
the board of lau\elarchoi , who chose him to be senator also 
took charge of his initiation. The duties of these commissioners 
are not well understood and it is problematical whether they 
should be classed as a priesthood. Capasso's interpretation 
that they were priests of Dionysus rests upon a queer mistrans- 
lation of the inscription last mentioned, by which he represents 
Glycerus as selected to become one of the laukelarchoi and 
afterwards as initiated into the mystery of the same priest- 
hood. (5) 

Another inscription unearthed in the site of the theater 
refers to a different phase of the cult. It is a marble pedestal 
containing a statement of the victories of the flute player P. 
Aelius Antigenides, a citizen of both Neapolis and Nicomedia, 
who was a demarch in the former city as well as high priest of 
the sacred guild of the theater (?) lepdt aovoSoc 6o[isXt%7]). The 
inscription is dated later than 138 A. D. and probably belongs 
to the reign of Antoninus, when the society seems to have 
reached the acme of its power. (6) This association under 

(1) Paus. II, 13, 3; Strab. VIII, 6, 24; Lenormant, Bacchus, D.-S. 
I, 637 and La grande Grece I, 407 ; Thalheim, Hebe, P.-W. VII. 2580. 

(2) Farnell V, 239 (b). Cp. the cult of Dionysus at Tarentum, Evans, 
Jour. Hell. Stud. VII (1886) 10. 

(3) Poland, Gesch d. gr. Vereinswesens 97 (3). 

(4) Capasso-De Petra, Napoli greco-romana, 163 (41). 

(5) Capasso-De Petra 3 : Al dio splendidissimo Ebone P. Plozio Gli- 
cero eletto a far parte delfillustrissimo consiglio dei laucelarchi, e dopo di 
essere stato secondo il costume interamente e perfettamente iniziato al mini- 
stero di questo sacerdozio, divenuto professo consacro (il presente dono) con 
Licinio Pudenziano iuniore etc. Cp. Kaibel, /. G. XIV, 192. 

(6) I. G. XIV, 737; Minervini, Notizie di alcune scoperie in Napoli in 
Bull Nap. n. s. VII (1859) 73; Poland op. cit. 145. 

- 195 - 



the patronage of Dionysus included in its membership poets, 
musicians and actors, - all in short whose business brought* 
them into contact with the stage; it was a cosmopolitan society 
whose members were largely transienjts and had branches 
under the Empire in the leading cities. (I) At Neapolis it 
flourished under the Republic. In the turmoil that followed 
Caesar's assassination we are told that Brutus made a journey 
to Neapolis to procure many' artists of the guild of Dionysus for 
use at Rome in his efforts to amuse the people. (2) In the reign 
of Hadrian, who especially favored the actors and hence receiv- 
ed from them the title of the new Dionysus, the society at 
Neapolis passed a decree in honor of T. Iulius Dolabella, who 
at least at a later time was a prominent citizen of Nemausus 
(Nimes) in Gaul, The service rendered to the actors by Dola- 
bella is unknown, nor is it clear why the decree was passed at 
Neapolis. (3) Since the religious services in the association and 
the cult of Dionysus were doubtless a prominent feature of its 
activity, the high priesthood seems to have been an office of 
honor. (4) 

Without any particular evidence Capasso wished to place 
a temple of Dionysus Hebon in the southwestern quarter of 
the old city at or near the church of S. Sever ino, where cer- 
tain remains of walls have been) discovered. (5) A sixteenth 
century writer Pighius speaks of seeing a round altar used as 
the bowl of a fountain with reliefs of the Sirens, Hebon, and 
Sebethus, which, if the notice is dependable, would be impor- 
tant as suggesting a ritualistic relationship between these 
deities. (6) But the Sirens as a group were not worshipped at 
Neapolis, and the association of gods seems unlikely for reli- 
gious purposes. If the group is not merely decorative, the 
writer is mistaken in his report, or has invented the whole 

(1) Liiders, Die dionysischen Kiinstler 93 f. Cp. SO; Friedlander, Sit- 
tengeschichte II (8) 90; Foucart, De collegiis scenicorum ariificum apud Grae- 

cos 92 f. ; Walzing, Les corporations professionnelles IV 120. 

(2) Plut. Brutus 21 : xat xdiv Tispt -cdv Atovoaov ts/vituW ocOtoc; elg Nsav 
rcdXtv xata^as §vstuxs nXeiaxoiq. Cp. Foucart, op. cit. 91 ; Beloch 59. 

(3) C. /. L. XII, 3232 = D. 5082, with notes. 

(4) Liiders, op. cit. 143; Minervini, op. cit. 75. 

(5) Capasso-De Petra, op. cit. 9, 162 (38). 

(6) Pighius, Hercules prodicius (1609) 329. 

- 1% - 



matter, gathering together the most characteristic divinities of 
the district but confusing the cult of one Siren at Neapolis 
with that of the three at Surrentum. 

ATHENA. 

The likeness of Athena appears upon several issues of 
silver coins going back as far as the middle of the fifth cen- 
tury B. G. Chronologically they seem to have been nearly 
contemporaneous with those coins which first show the head 
of the nymph, and betray the predominance won by the Athen- 
ians for a period in the affairs of the western Greeks. (1) 
On many didrachmas at the end of the fifth century and onward 
she appears wearing an Athenian helmet, — a style of coin 
that is generally considered by numismatists to express the 
influence of Thurii. (2) Though the form of the coin may 
well be attributed to this source, it is incorrect to assume with 
Beloch that the appearance of the goddess herself was due to 
outside influence. Rather was it caused by the presence of a 
cult of Athena in the town, which was introduced or strength- 
ened by the arrival of settlers from Athens and close com- 
mercial delations. (3) Other coins, generally obols, show 
Athena wearing a Corinthian helmet, a type which numisma- 
tists attribute to Sicilian influence. (4) 

No traces of an actual worship of the Athenian deity have 
been left, although the cult probably had some importance. On 
the other hand the worship of another Athena is attested by 

(1) A. Sambon 207, 174; Correra, he piu antiche monete di Napoli 
in Rend. Nap. XVI (1902) 98; Dressel, Beschr, der antiken Miinzen III, part. I, 
104. 

(2) A. Sambon 208 f. and. La cronalogia delle monete di Neapolis in 
Riv. ital. di numis. XV (1902) 123; Poole, Num. Chron. Ill (1883), 274. 

(3) Beloch 50, but cp. Gr. Gesch II, 202; Pais, Ancient Italy 218 and 
Ricerche stor. e geog. 277; A. Sambon, Riv. it. di num. XV (1902) 122 (2). 
It is worth while to note the character of the Athena of Thurii. According to 
F. Lenormant, La grande Grece II, 338 and Gazette arch. VI (1880) 185-6, 

who is followed by Head 87, the Thurian coins represent Athema Skyletria, 
a sea divinity honored at certaim points on the! coast of Bruttium and Iapygium. 
Cp. Lycoph. Alex. 853 and Scholia, and Hofer, Skyletria, Roscher, IV, 1023. 

(4) A. Sambon I, 174, 215. 

- 197 - 



specific evidence. An inscription found in 1892 outside of the 
Porta Capuana preserves the name of a public priestess Domi- 
tia Calliste, and so we are justified in inferring the presence of 
a shrine. (I) The goddess is called Athena Siciliana, a token 
that the cult was not as old as the colony but was imported at 
some later period from Sicily where the goddess was held in 
high esteem especially at Syracuse, Agrigentum, Himera and 
Camarina^ (2) Gabrici, calling attention to the relations 
known to have existed in the fifth and fourth centuries B. C. 
between Neapolis and the island, finds in them a means for 
the extension of the cult to the former. (3) With less proba- 
bility Pais thinks that the Athenian cult came first from Sicily 
to Surrentum as a result of Syracusan commercial activity 
between the years 474-289 B. C. Later according to this opinion 
Neapolis obtained jurisdiction over the country around Sur- 
rentum, and then took over and maintained the worship of 
important deities established there, just as was the case when 
Rome made new conquests. (4) There is no definite evidence, 
however, for the propagation of any form of worship from 
Surrentum, 

Although the evidence for this cult is scanty and it is not 
recorded in literature, it ought not with Correra to be consid- 
ered as essentially a private cult, since there is a clear refer- 
ence to a public priestess. (5) This woman in accordance 
with the nature of her office was installed in office by the action 
of the regular municipal senate. Although it is uncertain to 
what extent the priests of the community were considered as 
publici and by what distinction they were separated from the 
rest, it seems evident that the appearance of a public priest is 

(1) N. S. 1892, 202; AojuxCa KaXXtexyj 'AGyjvdcg tspsCa 2ixsX% too 
oo(y)xXVjto(o) §Y)fioada ysvopivY). Cp. Colonna, Scoperte di antichita in Napoli 
217; Pais, Ancient Italy 228 and Ricerche star, e geog. 288. The monument 
is reproduced in Ancient Italy Pis. VII, VIII and Ricerche stor. e geog. 276. 

(2) Holm, Gesch. Siciliens I, 178; Ciaceri, Culti e mitt nella storia del- 
Vantica Sicilia 153 i. 

(3) Gabrici, Rend. Nap. X (1896) 31. 

(4) Pais, Arch. stor. Nap. XXV (1900) 353, Ancient Italy 220 and Ri- 
cerche stor. e geog. 280. 

(5) Correra, L'iscrizione napolelana di Domizia Callista in !4rcJt. Stor. 
Sic. XVIII (1893) 612. 

- 198 - 



an indication of the importance of the cult with which he is 
associated. (1) As to the exact action of the decurions, which 
is recorded here, opinions differ on account of the confused 
and concise language of the inscription. Pais thinks it refers 
simply to the selection of a public priestess; Gabrici less prob- 
ably holds that Domitia Calliste was already serving the 
goddess and by the present action was promoted to a new 
dignity as sacerdos publica. (2) The latter dates the inscrip- 
tion in the beginning of the first century A. D. (3). 

APHRODITE. 

Aphrodite, worshipped under the designation Euploea, 
was thought to be a goddess whose special field was the sea; 
she protected the shipping, and her influence was salutary in 
calming winds and waves. (4) Her power for good in this 
direction is expressed twice in the poetry of Statius, where she 
is called omen felix carinis. The same poet in one of these 
passages, while enumerating in regular order the details of 
landscape visible from Surrentum includes a locality called 
Euplaea between his references to the islands Nesis (Nisida) 
and Megalia (Castel delFOvo); (5) and from this account 
attempts have been made to find a location for a shrine. It is 
not explicitly stated that the point of land here called Euploea 
took its name from a temple of this goddess, but such a state 
of affairs is probable, as the proper site would be an eminence 
overlooking the sea. Mommsen, who is followed by Hiilsen, 
identified the Euploea of Statius with the cliffs of Posilipo: (6) 
but Beloch and Cocchia, whose views are more generally ac- 

(1) Herbst, De sacerdotiis Romanorum municipalibus 14. Cp. the ap- 
pearance of the Ceres cult in Campania with public prestesses and that of 
Venus at Pompeii; also E. E. IV, 89; C. L L. VIII, 993. 

(2) Pais, Arch. Stor. Nap. XXV (1900) 348, [Anment Italy 111 and. Ri~ 
cerche 288; Gabrici, Rend. Nap. X (1896) 36. 

(3) Gabrici, op. cit. 32. 

(4) The chief shrines of Eupolea are listed by Preller-Robert 364 and 
Jessen, Euploia, P.-W. VI, 1225. Cp. Roscher, Aphrodite, Roscher I, 402. 

(5) Stat. sil. II, 2, 29; III, 1. 149. 

(6) Mommsen, Inschrift des Pollius Felix in Hermes XVIII (1883) 158; 
Hulsen, Euploia, P.-W. VI, 1226; Trede, Das Heidentum in d. rom. Kirche I, 9. 

- 199 - 



cepted, believe that the sanctuary stood on the heights of 
Pizzofalcone. The latter indeed has shown that Statius has 
enumerated in strict geographical sequence the various points 
from Monte Gauro to Naples. (1) Furthermore, this spot 
retained a reminiscence of the cult during the Middle Ages in 
the name Euple. (2) Kaibel saw in a Greek inscription an 
allusion to a series of quinquennial games that were celebrat- 
ed originally in honor of Aphrodite and later were diverted 
to serve the glory of Augustus. (3) The inscription is in honor 
of a certain Seleucus who held various offices in the city and 
lastly is described as Sp/ovra tov Sta tcsvts Itcov tljitjutcov. The 
phrase was understood by Kaibel as a reference no an agon 
presided over by this man, but is better taken in the sense of 
an ordinary quinquennial magistracy with censorial pow- 
ers. (4) The only merit of Kaibel's view is that it proposes 
to explain the mention of Aphrodite, which otherwise has not 
been satisfactorily disposed of. (5). 

LEUCOTHEA. 

Another goddess of the sea, similar to Aphrodite Euploea, 
was Leucothea, a nymph whose cult was widely diffused in the 
Greek world not only in Greece itself but also in the West espe- 
cially at Massilia, Velia, and Pyrgi. (6) Farnell calls attention 
to the fact that she was closely related to Aphrodite Euploea 

(1) Cocchia, La tomba di Virgilio in Saggi Filologici III, 169; Mau, 
Pompeii (2) 121 ; Capasso-De Petra, XXIII; Beloch 83; cp. 466; De Petra, Le 

Sirene del mar tirreno in Atti Nap. X\V (1908) 17. 

(2) Beloch loc. cit. 

(3)1. G. XIV, 745=C. /. G. 5796 = Vaglieri J741. Cp. /. G. XIV, 741. 

(4) Discussion by Civitelli, / nuovi frammenti d'epigrafi greche rela- 
tive ai Ludi Augustali di Napoli in Atti Nap. XVII (1894) art 2, No. 3, 60; 
a summary of the above article is found in Rend. Nap. VII (1893) 78 f. Kaibel, 
/. G. XIV, p. 191 ; Wissowa, Wochens. fur clasc. phil XIV (1897) 769. 

(5) Franz, C. I. G. HI, No. 5796 and add. p. 1255, following Marto- 
relli adopted the supplement cspsa ; Keil, going still farther in the recon- 
struction of the text, conjectured eunloia inr.ead of s5voicc. He is followed 
by Jessen, Euploia, P.-W. VI, 1226. 

(6) Hofer, Leucothea, Roscher II, 2014; Pais, II culto di Atene Siciliana in 
Arch. star. Sic. XXV (1900) 353 = .4 ncien* Italy 231 ^Ricerche stor. e geog. 292; 
Correra, Sul culto di Leucothea in Napdli in Studi e mat. I (1899) 73. 

- 200 - 



and that ordinarily both divinities, as happened here at Nea- 
polis, were revered in the same communities. (1) As distin- 
guished from the Sirens, she represented properly the benefi- 
cent effects of the sea, and perhaps stood in somewhat the same 
relation to Parthenope, as Athena to the Sirens at Surrentum, 
although she was inferior to that goddess in fame. (2) From 
her one of the small islands near Capri received its name ; but 
in spite of the fact that this is cited three times by the Latin 
authors nothing is known of the nature of the place or the 
reason why it received such a name, since it always occurs in 
a geographical enumeration without comment. (3) 

The cult at Neapolis was probably derived from Velia, the 
most important center in southwestern Italy. It is definitely 
attested only by an inscription discovered in a sepulchral 
chamber excavated in 1895. Among a number of simple epi- 
taphs written upon the walls was one alluding to Aristagore, 
who had served as a priestess of Leucothea. (4) To the same 
cult may belong a statue in the National Museum at Naples, 
which was discovered in the remains of the Roman villa of 
Lucullus in the district of Posilipo (Marechiano). Originally it 
stood in a niche which may have served as a little shrine. The 
image, which comprises a female figure riding a seahorse, 
was first identified as Venus Euploea or as a Nereid, but more 
recently by Correra as Leucothea. (5) The same combination 
is depicted upon a gem in the British Museum, which was 
considered by King as a representation of Venus Euploea and 
is listed in the Museum Catalogue as Thetis or a Nereid. (6) 



(1) Farnell II, 637. 

(2) Pais loc. cit. For a recent theory of the nature of this deity see 
Farnell, lno-Leuhpthea in Jour. Hell Stud. XXXVI (1916) 36 f 

(3) Plin. nat. Ill, 83; Mela II, 121 ; Mart. Cap. VI, 644. 

(4) Gallanti, II sepolcreto greco sotto il palazzo di Donato in A Hi Nap. 
XVII (1895) part. 1, No. 3, 11 ; De Petra, Mon. ant. VIII, 228; See Alii Nap. 
PI. Ill ; Correra, op. cit. 75. 

(5) Nat. Mus. No. 6026; Reinach, Rep. stat. grec. et rom. II 411, No. 
I ; Avellino, Memor. della r. Accad. ercol. V, 248. Incorrectly restored accord- 
ing to Correra, op. cit. 77. 

(6) King, Handbook of Engraved Gems (2) 230; Brit. Mus. Cat. F548; 
Imhoof-Blumer und Keller, Tier und Pflanzenbilder auf Miinzen und Gemmen 
PI. XXVI, 24. Cp. Furtwangler, Antihe Gemmen II, note to PL XIII, 43 

- 201 - 



ihe identity of the statue can not, therefore, be definitely de- 
termined. 

The myth of this goddess is among those described by 
Philostratus as portrayed upon a Neapolitan portico. (I) 

ARTEMIS. 

The part played by Artemis in the worship of one of the 
phratries has already been explained. (2) In addition to the 
special devotion accorded her by this section of the population, 
she was recognized as a divinity by the city as a whole. Her 
likeness appears on a series of bronze coins dated in the first 
half of the third century B. C. Since the reverse of these coins 
and not those bearing the likeness of any other deity shows 
constantly the figure of a horn of plenty, von Duhn suspects 
that she was looked upon as a Tyche divinity. (3) The 
shrine mentioned in a Greek inscription discussed under the 
gods of the phratries was not a public temple as assumed by 
Mollardo. (4) A temple probably existed, but in that case 
must have been erected long before the second century A. D. 
to which the inscription in question belongs. Capasso assigned 
to Artemis a dedication made by an archon C. Andronicus 
and his wife in which the name of the god who received the 
gift is not specified. But his supposition rests only on the cir- 
cumstance that the stone was found in a neighborhood where 
local antiquarians had erroneously located a shrine of this 
goddess. (5) In fact their identification of the temple site 
with the church of S. Maria Maggiore has very little evidence 
to support it. 



Imhoof-Blumer and Keller suggest Leucothea, a Nereid or Thetis as the solu- 
tion. Cp. Douglas, Some Antiquarian Notes 258 (1). 

(1) Philostratus, Imagines 76. 

(2) See p. 170. 

(3) Von Duhn, Der Dioskurentempel in Neapel 14; A. Sambon 191, 
277, Nos. 742-751; Head 40; Garrucci 86; Poole, Cat. Gr. Coins in the Brit. 

Mus. Italy 118. 

(4) Mallardo, Memorie Nap. II (1913) 166; Maiuri, Studi romani I 
(1913) 29. 

(5) Capasso-De Petra, Napoli greco-romano 93, 198 (279); Maiuri, op. 
c£f. 28; N. S. 18%, 103: Trede, Das Heidentum in d. rom. Kirche 1, 9; II, 312. 

- 202 - 



RIVER GODS, SEBETHUS AND ACHELOOS. 

Peculiar to the Neapolitans was the worship of the god of 
their local river the Sebethus or Sepethus. This is an illustration 
of a common feeling about the sanctity of rivers, which was 
manifested not only elsewhere in CampaniaL as in the case of 
the Vdlturnus and the Sarnus but also generally throughout 
Italy, where the Numicus, the Clitumnus, and the Po exem- 
plify the same sentiment (1) A rare type of obols, dated in 
the fourth century B. C, exhibits on the obverse the head 
of a young river god marked with the legend StjtcslGoc, and on 
the reverse a winged female figure variously explained as Nice, 
Parthenope, or a nymph Sebethis, whom tradition made the 
mother of Oebalus, an early king of this region, (2) This 
river god's shrine stood at some point in the city, as an inscrip- 
tion records a restoration by P. Meuius Eutychus. (3) 

While Sebethus is regularly represented as a young man 
with horned forehead, it is probable that another river god 
Achelous is alluded to in the figures of the man headed bull 
which are found upon so many issues of Neapolitan coins. 
Some numismatists have attempted to explain this design as a 
likeness of Dionysus Hebon, and a prolonged controversy has 
raged on, this subject. (4) But, although the bull was often 
associated with this god, it is not certain that he was himself 
portrayed in the form of that animal with the addition of a 
man's head. (5) Likewise it is impossible to prove definitely 

(1) For the prevalence of ia river god on coins see Head, index p. 955. 
Cp. Waser Flussgbtter, P.-W. 2774; Mirone, Les divin. fluv. rep. sur les mon. 
ant de la Sidle in Rev. Num. XI, (1917-18) I f. 

(2) Verg. Aen. VII, 734 and Serv. ; Hofer, Sebeithos and Sebethis, 
Roscher IV, 579-580; A. Sambon 181, 218, No. 422; Minervini, Bull Nap. 

n. s. V (1857) 182, VI (1858) 57; Garrucci, Bull. Nap. n. s. I (1852) 17; L. 
Sambon, 141 ; Quaranta, Mem. della r. accad. ercol. VI (1853) 383 f. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 1480=0. 3901 : P. Meuius Eutychus aediculam test. 

Sebetho. 

(4) P. Gardner, The Types of Greek Coins 88; L. Sambon 151; Eckhel, 
Doct, num. vet. I, 138; Panoflca, Musie Blacas 94. 

(5) Farnell V, 251; Thramer, Dionysus, Roscher I, 1150; A. W. Cur- 
tius, Der Stier des Dionysos 23 f" . ; Garrvcci 83; A. Sambon 181, who gives a 
list of authorities. 

- 203 - 



that this is Achelous; but the figure of the human faced bull in 
other instances as at Laus in Lucania and at Selinus, Gela, and 
Catana in Sicily almost certainly signifies a river god, and 
unless some local deity is represented on the coins of Neapolis 
the design must refer to Achelous, the only one of the many 
in river cults which obtained a more than local distinction. (1) 
Again, the people of Neapolis would have an interest in this 
cult because according to the most common version of the 
legend this divinity was the father of Parthenope and the other 
Sirens. (2) In some of these coins the influence of Acarnania 
has been seen, where an agon was held in his honor; if the 
Neapolitan coins, as is probable, were issued on the occasion 
of athletic contests, there would be a tendency to repeat the 
same design with Achelous. (3) Some authorities ajs A. 
Sambon and Head, while granting that the basic notion under- 
lying the design is that of Achelous, believe that the concep- 
tion of the river god tended more and more to be assimilated to 
that of Dionysus until by the end of the fourth century B. C, 
the latter predominated. (4) The question is incapable of 
proof. 

MINOR CULTS. 

Evidence for the worship of Hera is wanting. A series of 
coins bearing her likeness surrounded by rays has been assign- 
ed doubtfully to this city, but if this money is really a product 
of the Neapolitan mint, Hera's appearance upon it can be 
accounted for by assuming the influence of the coinage of 
Croton, where a strong cult of Hera Lacinia flourished. (5) 

(1) A list of the localities that have furnished examples of this type 
is given by Lehnerdt, Herakles und Acheloos in Arch. Zeit. XLIII (1885) 
111 (10). For the prominence of Achelous see Stoll, Acheloos, Roscher I, 7; 
Wentzel, Acheloos, P.-W. I, 214. Cp. Macdonald, Coin Types 92, who mini- 
mizes the religious significance of such emblems, and P. Gardner, Greek 
River Worship in Trans, of the Royal Society of Literature ser. 2, XI, 203. 

(2) Stoll loc. cit.; Weicker, Seirenen, Roscher IV, 604; Schol Od 
XII, 39. 

(3) A. Sambon 181; Macdonald 100; Imhool-Blumer, Die Miinzen 
'Ak<*rnaniens in Numis. Zeits. X (1878) 14 f. 

(4) A. Sambon 181 ; Head 39. 

(5) Poole, op. cit. 94; Farnell I, 212; Gruppe 370 (3). 

- 204 - 



Maiuri compares the form of the design with that on coins of 
Calchis, and associates the goddess here and at Cumae. (I) 

A sculptured relief, which is the only evidence for a pos- 
sible worship of Hephaestus, has been treated elsewhere. (2) 
Hermes along with Pluto is named in an inscription, but this 
belongs to mythology rather than to religion. (3). On the 
mere finding of a stone upon which was carved a caduceus, 
certain writers would locate a temple of this god on the site 
of the church of the SS. Apostoli, but it is unnecessary to 
discuss such an identification. Capasso's attempts to find the 
location of temples of Aesculapius and the Fates rest upon a 
similar lack of evidence. (4) Nor is there any adequate testi- 
mony at hand for supposing that the hero Orion received recog- 
nition. Near the harbor was found a marble slab bearing the 
likeness of a nude male figure with dripping curly hair and 
a drawn sword, which was identified as Orion on the ground 
that the hair and sword were symbolical respectively of rain 
and storm. (5) But it is not clear that Orion was regularly 
represented in this way and that the type was not applicable 
to other deities, so that the identification may be doubted. At 
the samp time there is nothing improbable in the idea that 
Orion received suitable recognition in this community. He 
was well known in Euboea, and had a real cult in Boeotia 
especially at Tanagra; from the former he was introduced 
into Messana and Rhegium, and may have been brought to the 
Chalcidian colonies in Campania. (6) A temple of Victoria 
was assigned to Neapolis by Baudrillart, but there is no evi- 
dence for its existence. (7) 

A passage in Lycophron alluding to the wanderings of 
Odysseus states that he would set up on Mt. Lethaeum a 
column in honor of Pluto and Proserpina and would affix to it 

(1) Maiuri, Arcana cumana in Ausonia VI (1911) 9. 

(2) See p. 172. 

(3) /. G. XIV. 769. 

(4) Caracciolo, De sacris NeapoL eccl. monumeniis 293; Corcia, Storia 
d. due Sicilie II 225; Capasso-De Petra, Napoli greco-romana 57, 91. 

(5) Capasso-De Petra, op. cit. 98; Franz, C. /. G. Ill, p. 716. 

(6) Paus. IX, 20, 3; Capaccio, Historia Neapolitana I, 198, Gruppe 73; 
Kiientzle, Orion, RoscHer III, 1031, 1036. 

(7) Baudrillart, Les dioinites de K la Victoire en Grece et en Italie 87. 

- 205 - 



his helmet. No such place in Campania is known, but if there 
is an actual reference to a definite spot where these gods 
were honored, the steep mount may possibly refer to Posi- 
lipo, — a name whose significance (Pausilypos) is suggested 
by the word Lethaeum adopted by Lycophron. (I) One of 
the months in the Neapolitan calender bore the name Pan- 
theon (IIav6sft)v), which calls to mind the month IIav6sios in 
Pergamum. (2) On this account some scholars have assumed 
a cult of the Pantes Theoi at Neapolis or the presence of a 
Pantheon. The notion advocated by Ignarra in the eighteenth 
century that such a temple was founded by Hadrian and stood 
on the site of S. Giovanni Maggiore has already been examined 
and set aside as untenable. (3) Franz thought that a festival 
was celebrated in honor of all the gods collectively, but if so, 
nothing is known about it. (4) Finally two short dedications 
may be mentioned here; one is in honor of Nemesis, the other, 
made by a slave, is a tribute to Silvanus. (5) They were dis 
covered on Mt. Vesuvius in territory belonging to Herculaneum 
during the existence of that city. They are assigned by Momm- 
sen, however, to the second century A. D. and hence are too 
late in point of time to have belonged to Herculaneum. 

ROMAN CULTS. 

Officials belonging to the state religion of the Roman 
colony apart from the Imperial cult are seldom mentioned. One 
inscription has preserved the name of C. Octauius Verus, who 
held the position of augur and is called in addition a flamen 
Virbiatis and aedilis Augustalis. (6) Both of these offices 

(1) Lycophron Alex. 701-711; Von Holzinger's edition, comment on this 
passage; Gruppe 403 (5). 

(2) /. G. XIV, 759, I. 16. Cp. Dittenberger, Sylloge, (2), No. 592 = Michel, 
Recueil, No. 519; Hofer, Pantheion, Roscher III, 1555. 

(3) Ignarra, De Phratriis 145. See p. 193. 

(4) Franz, C. /. G. Ill, p. 717, 720. 

(5) C. /. L. X, 1408=Vaglieri 1167; Nemesi sanct(ae) sacr. Q. Pont(ius) 
Euschemus u. s. I. m. ; X, 1409 == Vaglieri 1191: Communis C. Petroni Saltua- 
rius uotum Siluano soluit libes merito. Von Domaszewski, Silvanus auf latein- 
ischen In&chrijten in Philologus LXI (1902) 11 =Abhandlungen 69. 

(6) C. /. L. X, 1493 = D. 6457. 

- 206 - 



seem to have been religious in their nature, but no information 
about them is at hand. The former recalls the worship of Vir- 
bius near Aricia in Latium, where this god, identified with the 
Greek Hippolytus, was associated with the powerful cult of 
Diana. The priest of Neapolis may be a copy of a Roman 
flamen created at a comparatively late date, or he may represent 
some old Greek priesthood that was transformed by the arrival 
of frew {Influences., (1) 

FORTUNA. 

The most trustworthy evidence for the cult of Fortuna ap- 
pears in a Greek inscription, in which she is designated as Ty- 
che. Here there is recorded a thank offering made by M. 
Marius Epictetus to the city's Tyche, considered apparently in 
the same way as the Genius that so often appears to express the 
protecting spirit of a given locality. (2) In other words we have 
here a Roman rather than a Greek cult. It is true that during 
the Alexandrian period it became common for Greek cities 
in the East to develop local cults of Tyche and to depict the 
goddess in statuary and upon coins. (3) But a place like Nea 
polis would not share in this development ; it would be exposed 
rather to the influence of the Roman ideas about Genius and 
Fortuna, and would develop the conception of a deity associ- 
ated closely with the community. We may infer that at first this 
idea was embodied in the Siren Parthenope; as her power in 
the community waned, the other conception became stronger 
and attained a full growth under the Empire. (4) 

(1) Mommsen C. I. L. X, p. 172; d© Ruggiero, \Aedilia Ruggiero I, 271 ; 
Samter, Flamines, P.-W. VI, 2492; Julian, Flamen, D.-S. II, 1173; Paris, Diana, 
D.-S. II, 154; Birt, Diana Roscher I, 1008; Herbst, De sacerdotiis Roman, mu- 
nicipalibus 15; Wissowa, 249 (2); Fraser, The Magic Art. (3) 19-21. 

(2) /. G. XIV, 720= C. /. G. 5792=:VagIieri 1078: M. MdpioQ 'E^xttjtoc; 
%% ZUXV Nsoc£ TtdXecog dveOvpcsv xapiaxrjpiov. Maiuri, apparently following 
Capiasso~De Petra, op. dt. 196 (270) erroneously calls the inscription bilingual. 
Maiuri, JV. S. 1913, 187. 

(3) P. Gardner, Countries and Cities in Ancient Art in Jour. Hell. 
Stud. IX (1888) 73 f . ; L. Deubner, Personifikationen, Roscher II, 2076; Hild, 
Fortuna, D.rS. II, 1265. 

(4) Cp. Allegre, Etude sur la deessc jgrecque Tyche 185. 

%. 
- 207 - 



A statue accidentally discovered at Naples, although badly 
disfigured retains enough characteristics to seem a representa- 
tion of Fortuna. It was doubtless not a cult statue but designed 
for ornamental purposes. As it came to light close to the re- 
mains of the circular temple attributed to the god Eumelus, 
Maiuri conjectures that it was set up on the property belonging 
to the phratry of the Eumeleidai and was a dedication made by 
a member of that organization. (1) 

Tradition has associated a shrine of Fortuna with the dis- 
trict of the Capo di Posilipo, which embraces the heights be- 
tween Naples and Pozzuoli.Here accordig to one account wis 
discovered the inscription recording the liberality of T. Ves- 
torius Zelotus, who was doubtless a citizien of Puteoli. (2) 
The record shows that after the temple had been handed over 
complete by the builders, this man at his own cost provided an 
image of Pantheus. (3) The cult of Fortuna Panthea is an- 
other evidence of the synqretistic tendency to blend together 
various divinities rather than to single out and emphasize one 
of them ; it came to be felt especially that Fortuna the promot- 
er of good luck, united in her person the powers of many 
others. Hence in the image of Vestorius Zelotus the attempt 
would be made to include in the figure the physical charac- 
teristics of as many deities as possible. (4) It was after all a 
safe and economical way of showing respect to the whole 
company of gods. In Italy, although Fortuna Panthea was often 
portrayed by various forms of art, she is cited in the extant 
epigraphical material only at Aletrium and Rome. (5) 

(1) Maiuri, N. S. 1913, 187. 

(2) Dubois, 51-52. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 1557 = Vaglieri 1182: T. Vestorius Zelotus post adsigna- 
tionem aedis Fortunae signum Pantheum sua pecunia d. d. Cp. X, 3092. The 
provenience of the inscription has been variously given. It is usually assigned 
to Puteoli, as by Mommsen, Dubois, and Beloch, because of the fact that the 
name Vestorius seems to belong there. But the place of the cult seems more 
likely to have been that indicated above. 

(4) R. Peter, Fortuna, Roscher I, 1534 f. ; Drexler, Isis-Fortuna and 
Fortuna-Panthea, Roscher I, 1549 f . ; Hild, Fortuna, D.-S. II, 1273; Wissowa 
264; Allegre, op. cit. 234. 

(5) C. /. L. X, 5800, VI 30, 867. Cp. Breccia, Fortuna, Ruggiero HI, 
190; Otto, Fortuna, P.-W. VII, 40. 

- 208 - 



Local topographers agree that the shrine stood; in the vicin- 
ity of Posilipo but differ as to its exact site. One opinion has 
identified it with a few remains of brick work and columns in 
the little coast village of Marechiano. According to other an- 
tiquarians, however, its location is to be sought either farther 
east, where a church once existing bore the name of S. Maria 
Fortuna (or S. Pietro), or else at S. Agnello. (I). 

THE IMPERIAL CULT. 

The worship of Augustus and his family was carried on as 
usual by the Augustales, but the collegium has left only scanty 
traces of its activity. One of the members is known, - the mer- 
chant M. Antonius Trophimus, who filled the same position 
at Puteoli. The aedilis Augustalis. whose duties are unknown, 
has been treated above. (2) 

The Emperor Augustus was chiefly honored by the cele- 
bration of quinquennial games, which attained a great renown 
and attracted the most famous athletes of the time to the 
competitions. (3) Officially they were called Italica Romaea 
Sebasta; thus, though they were Greek contests in substance 
they received a Latin name. Noteworthy is the fact that the 
Neapolitans were not content to give their games a modest 
title of local significance derived from their own city, but in- 
stead they included in their appellation allusions to all Italy, 
to Rome, and to the Emperor and endeavored to flatter all 
alike. (4) It was declared that they were on a par with the 
most famous contests of Greece, and Strabo relates that they 

(1) The various opinions are discussed by Giinther, Pausilypon 182. 
Cp. Capasso-De Petra, Napoli greco-rotnana 96 (270); Beloch 85; Corcia, Storia 
d. due Sicilie II, 195. 

(2) See pp. 124, 206. 

(3) Ricci, Athleta, Ruggiero, I, 749; F. Richter, Roma, Roscher IV, 139; 
Beloch 57; Capasso-De Petra 38. Civitelli, Atti Nap. XVII (1894) part III; 
Dittenberger und Purgold, Inschriften von Olympia p. 123; Lasena, DelVan- 
tico ginnasio napoletano, 25 f . ; Ignarra, De palaestra neapolitana 139 f . ; 
Wissowa, Wochens, fur Klass. Phil XIV (1897) 763 f. ; Mie, Quaestiones agonir 
ticae imprimis ad Olympiam periinentes 43 f. 

(4) Civitelli, J nuovi frammenti d'epigrafe greche relative ai Ludi Au~ 
gustali di Napoli in Atti Nap. XVII (1893-4) part. 11, No. 55 (3). 

- 209 - 

14 



actually rivalled them. (I) Until the institution of the Ludi 
Capitolini by Domitian they were unsurpassed in Italy, and 
exercised an important influence upon all games instituted 
later. (2) They included gymnastic, literary, musical, and 
equestrian events, and were celebrated in midsummer the third 
year of each Olympiad beginning with the year 2 B. C, - a date 
known from the statements of Dio Cassius and from the fact 
that the forty-fifth series was held in 1 70 A. D. (3) Another 
notice of the games, which was disconeiBil in the excavations 
at Olympic has hem assfgned to a period about a century 
earBer than the last named date. (4) 

Considerable uncertainty is attached to the institution of 
the games. Dio Cassius states that the ostensible reason for 
their introduction was a desire on the part of the people of 
Neapolis to show their appreciation of the generosity of Au- 
gustus, manifested in restoring damage caused by fire and 
earthquake; but in reality, he declares, they were influenced 
by their great interest in Greek institutions. (5) It is not alto » 
gether clear that these contests were entirely new. It is possible 
that they were remodelled out of games celebrated in the past 
like those at Actium and the ludi Veneris Genetricis at Rome, 
which underwent a transformation in honor of the Emperor. 
The theory that they were derived from a contest in honor of 
Venus was advocated by Kaibel, but as already explained, 
there is no generally accepted evidence for this series of 
games. (6) Beloch associated them with the gymnastic contests 
in honor of the Siren, which originated at a remote period, but 
the latter were still performed during the early years of the Em- 
pire as a separate festival which was doubtless of modest pre- 

(1) Strab. V, 4, 7; Mie, op. cit. 48. 

(2) Stat. sil. Ill, 5, 92: Et Gapitolinis quinquennia proxima lustris. 
Cp. Wissowa 465. 

(3) /. G. XIV, 748 = C. /. G. 5805. Cp. I. G. XIV, 754, 755 and Civitelli 
loc. cit. Heinen, Klio XI (191 1) 170; Dittenberger und Purgold loc. cit.; Richter, 
Roscher IV, 139; Franz, C. /. G. Ill, p. 732; Gardiausen, Augustus und seine 
Zeit part II 326 (46). 

(4) Dittenberger und Purgold, op. cit. No. 56. ; Wissowa 765. 

(5) Dio Cassius LV, 10, 9. 

(6) See p. 200. 

- 210 - 



tensions. (I) There seems, however, to be some ground for 
believing that a new festival was attached to one previously 
existing. Beurlier considers that the original contests were 
grouped under the term Romaea Italica to which Sebasta was 
added in the time of Augustus. (2) But Dittenberger somewhat 
more probably holds that the earlier games bore the tide 
Italica Olympia and that the other two words belonged to the 
new series. In the extant inscription from Olympia he finds 
that the events recorded clearly fall under two separate heads 
corresponding tq the two parts of the revised festival. (3) 

The Emperors are frequently reported as attending the sa- 
cred games. Augustus witnessed the contests of 14 A. D. just 
before proceeding to Nola where he died. (4) Claudius presid- 
ed at the series held in 42 A. D., making himself conspicuous 
by the simplicity of his manners and apparel and competing 
himself with success in the literary section. (5) To this time 
probably belongs the institution of a body of youths called 
the rcatSss xXaoStavot in an inscription from Caria, which re- 
cords a pancratium performed at Neapolis. (6) The contests 
at which Nero participated in the year 68 may have been the 
regular quinquennial games, which in this case were anticipated 
by two years to accomodate the impatience of the royal per- 
former. (7) Titus served as agonoihetes no less than three 
times probably in the years 70, 74, and 78. (8) How long the 
festival continued to be celebrated is uncertain. Civitelli, re- 

(1) Strab. V. 4, 7: Kal ay<bv covxeXeFuai yovantdg xaxa fiavcsto; Beloch 58. 

(2) BeurlieT, Le culte imperial 161 (6). 

(3) Dittenberger und Purgold, op, cit. p. 123. 

(4) Dio Gassius LVI, 29 2 : 'Ega)p|x^07) xs eg tyjv KoqiTiavCav 5 AByoo- 
cto£ xal xov aywva tov sv %% TSiq. noXsi StaBeic; iitstxa ev N&Xig jiex^XXage. 
Suet. Aug. 98, 5: Mox Neapolim traiecit, quamquam etiam turn infirmis intes- 
tinis morbo uariante, tamen et quinquennale certamen Gymnicum Konori suo 
institutum perspectavit. Veil. II. 123. Quippe Caesar Augustus... interfuturus 
athletarum certaminis iudicro, quod eius honor i sacratum a Neapolitan's est, 
processit in Campaniam. Gardthausen, Augustus und seine Zeit I, 1267. 

(5) Dio Cassius LX, 6, 1 ; Suet. Claud. XI, 2. 

(6) C. I. G. 2810b. 

(?) Suet. Nero 20. Cp. Franz, C. /. G. Ill, p. 732. 

(8) /. G. XIV, 729-C. /. G. 5809 = 0. /. L. X, 1481. Bloch 58; Momm- 
sen, C. /. L. X, 1481. 

-211 - 



futing a statement of Beloch, that it could not be attested later 
than 182 A. D., cites evidence for its presence as late as 210, 
the close of the reign of Septimius Severus. (1) 

Nor is there any indication that it ceased to be performed 
soon after this period. The Philostratus who composed the 
Imagines speaks of an agon here at the beginning of his book, - 
an apparent indication that games survived at Neapolis at least 
into the third century. Two other passages cited by Civitelli to 
prove the continuance of the games here are not conclusive, 
yet add a certain amount of probability to the supposition that 
they had a long life. (2) 

One point still remains to be considered, - the relation 
between this festival and the Eusebeia, which are occasionally 
cited as a sacred contest at Neapolis. Couve considers that the 
latter was a new series of games instituted by Antonius 
Pius. (3) Beurlier states that the Sebasta after the time of An- 
toninus were called Eusebeia, probably as the result of an offi- 
cial order on the part of that monarch to extend honor to the 
memory of his predecessor. If such an action wets taken, it 
would suit the beginning of his reign, and would be in line with 
his establishment of the Eusebeia at Puteoli. Yet we find that 
as late as the year 182 there is a mention of the Sebasta at Nea- 
polis parallel with the Eusebeia at Puteoli, a circumstance 
which makes it certain that the name of the contest was not 
officially altered. (4) It may sometimes have been called by the 
name Eusebeia as a result of the influence of the games of 
Puteoli; yet the only definite reference to the Eusebeia at 
Neapolis, which occurs in the copy of an inscription no longer 



(I) /. G. XIV, 1102 = C. /. G. 5913. Here are recorded the victories of 
M. Aurelius Asclepiades. Beloch loc. cit.; Civitelli, Atti Nap. (1893-4) 74; /. G. 
HI, 129. A table of the contests is given by Franz, C. /. G. Ill, p. 732 f. The 
older scholars as Mazzocchi and Ignarra maintained that the games ceased 
when the place received a Roman colony, - a position which the extant evi- 
dence renders wholly untenable. Civitelli loc. cit.; De Petra, Napoli colonia 
romana in Atti Nap. XVI (1891-2) 56 f . ; Ignarra, De Palaestra Neapolitana 146. 

(2) Civitelli, loc cit.; Philostratus, Imagines 763; Aug., c. Acad. Ill, 
16, 35; Codex Iustinianus X, 54 (de athletis). 

(3) Couve, Hadrianeia, D.-S. Ill, 2. 

(4) /. G. XIV, 1102 = C. /. G. 5913. 

- 212 - 



extant, may be the result of an error of transcription. (I) The 
instance cited by Beurlier to prove that the games were also 
called Actia refers not to this city but to Nicopolis. (2) 

There is no doubt that Augustus was worshipped in a shrine 
consecrated to himself. In the agonistic fragments from Olympia 
occurs the mention of a Caesareum to which a procession made 
its way to offer a sacrifice to the Emperor. This seems to be a 
reference to his temple. (3) Its site can not be determined on 
account of a lack of evidence. Fabio Giordano thought that it 
stood near the ancient Forum, where the church of S. Gregorio 
is now located. Capaso would associate it with S. Gennaro al- 
TOlmo in the same district, and goes so far as to give a descrip- 
tion of the structure. (4) All this, however, is quite uncertain. 

The cult of the Emperors was carried on also in the phra- 
tries, as is attested by the fragment of an inscription recording 
the 8sol as(3a3TOt along with the deities of the phratry. (5) 
Avellino, followed by Capasso, assigned the inscription to the 
age of Domitian and identifies the gods as the deified Vespa- 
sian and Titus. (6) But Franz thought rather that there was 
an allusion to a living Emperor and Empress; in reality the 
term seems to have included the reigning Emperor and those 
of his predecessors who were deified. (7) In another case a 
certain individual, who wished to thank the phratry gods for 
his safe return to his home, set up in their honor an image of 



(1) The term Eusebeia occurs in /. G. Ill, 128 = C. /. G. 247 as E0]as[p]eta, 
where Mommsen would read Ssgaoxoc C. /. L. X, p. 171. It may also be 
understood in C. L G. 1720 (from Delphi) but is not actually in the text. 

(2) Rentier, he culte imperial 162; Waddington, Inscriptions recueillees 
en Grece et en Asie Mineure 1839. Cp. Reisch, Aktia, P.-W. I. 1214. 

(3) Dittenberger ynd Purgold, Jnschr. v. Olympia, No. 56, 1, 48. 

(4) Fabio Giordano, quoted in Capasso-De Petra, Napoli grecoromana 
183 (208); ibidem 77; cp. 58. 

(5) /. G. XIV, 723. 

(6) Avellino, Bull Nap. I (1843) 23; Capasso-De Petra, op. cit. 58. 

(7) Dittenberger, /. G. Ill 664, 665 ; Sylloge inscr. Graecarum I (2), 
363 (2); and Hermes XIII (1878) 72; Brandis, 'Ap X tspsu^ P.-W. II, 481 ; Kor- 
nemann, Zur Geschichte der antiken Herrscherkulte in Klio 1 (1901) 106 (13); 
Geiger, De sacerdoiibus Augustorum municip. 29. 

-213 - 



the Emperor Claudius. (I) An inscription in honor of the Ge- 
nius Caesarum was likewise found at Naples. (2) 

ORIENTAL CULTS. 

Neapolis offered a much less favorable field for the devel- 
opment of the Oriental cults than some other places in the 
vicinity. There was no great amount of commerce at the close 
of the Republic and throughout the Empire to bring into the 
city an influential foreign element, nor was there in the imme- 
diate neighborhood a military station. Furthermore, the people 
with their firmly rooted Greek civilization were less receptive 
toward those cults which had a well marked orgiastic tendency 
than the inhabitants of other towns who were not subject to the 
restraining influences of Greek conservatism. Though the extant 
evidence indicates that the most important Oriental religions had 
adherents in the community, they did not exercise so great an 
influence as in most other towns. 

THE GODS OF EGYPT. 

The worship of the Egyptian deities was carried on by 
people from that country who had a settlement here. They were 
in large part natives of Alexandria, some of whom were 
brought to the city by Nero, because he had taken a fancy to 
their race. In this case the Imperial favor was due to a new 
form of applause which the Egyptians employed to express 
their appreciation of the music rendered by the Emperor in his 
public performances. Aside from this incident the interest of 
Nero in the Alexandrians is well authenticated. (3) But in 
asserting that there was a great increase of these people in 
Nero's time Capasso exaggerates the words of Suetonius, who 

(1) /. G. XIV, 72%=C. I. G. 5802b. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 1561 : Genio Caesarum Diognetus uilic. fee. Colonna, 
Scoperte di antichita 221. 

(3) Suet. Nero: Captus autem madulatis Alexandrinorum laudatio- 
nibus, qui de nouo commeatu Neapolim confluxerant, plures Alexandria euo- 
cauit. 

- 214 - 



merely says that he brought others. (I) In fact it is not prob- 
able that the Alexandrian colony ever became very large. 
Yet it was distinctive enough to leave the impress of its name 
on that part of the city where they resided, - a name that sur- 
vived in the Middle Ages in the form Vico degli Alessandrini , 
which was applied to the street called later Mezzocannone. 
Likewise one of the mediaeval divisions of the city was called 
the regio Nili. This circumstance would tend to prove that the 
Egyptians were located in the south-western part of Neapolis 
where they possessed a shrine consecrated to their national 
gods ; Capasso would place it precisely at the beginning of the 
Via deirUniversita opposite the statue of the river god Nilus 
cited below, where remains of tufa foundation walls were 
unearthed. (2) But these would point rather to a building be- 
longing to an earlier epoch than the one in which the temple 
of the Egyptian gods was probably erected. 

Doubtless in this quarter was discovered an inscription 
pertaining to the Egyptian gods, which consists of a dedication 
made by a prominent Roman official M. Oppius Nauius Phan- 
nianus, who had lived in the Orient. He presented to the shrine 
an image of Apollo-Horus-Harpocrates, a syncretistic combi- 
nation of a Greek divinity with an Oriental one (3). Horus in 
the form Harpocrates, the only aspect of this god which appeal- 
ed to the Greeks outside of Egypt, has become amalgamated 
with Apollo for the reason that each was a god of light. (4) 
There is no reason to interpret the inscription with Franz as a 
reference to three statues representing separately Apollo and 

(1) Capasso-De Petra, op. cit. 6. 

(2) Capasso-De Petra 6, 161 (24). Capasso states that the term regio 
Nili occurs as Late as 1276 in Notam. instrumentorum S. Gregorii No. 433, Arch, 
stor. Nap. XVII (1892) 450 and Pianta della citta di Napoli nel secolo XI; 
Trede, Das Heidentum in d. rom. Kirche II, 143. 

(3) /. G. XIV, 7\9=--C. I. G. 5793 and 111, p. ^^Vaglieri 1094. The 
inscription is assigned to Neapolis by Kaibel and Capasso; Beloch regards its 
origin as doubtful. 

(4) Herodotus II, 144. Shrines of Harpocrates are cited at Delos, Chios 
and Ambracia. Ed. Meyer, Horos, Roscher I, 2747. The god is mentioned three 
times in Latin inscriptions: C. J. L. VI, 31 (Rome), V, 2796 (Patauium), IX, 
4772 (Forum Nouum) In the first case he is united with Apollo, de Ruggiexo, 
Harpocrates, Ruggiero, III, 644. 

-215 - 



two Egyptian gods. (1) A statue of Isis was unearthed in the 
suburbs of Naples. (2) 

The Alexandrians were interested also in the worship of 
the Nile as a patron of fertility who promoted the growth of the 
crops and the increase of animals and the human race. (3) 
An evidence of this sentiment is seen in a statue of the river 
god, which is still extant and stands today in the Piazzetta del 
Nilo. Naturally the decorative idea was strong here, as this type 
was of common use in sculpture. The monument is in the form 
of an old man in a reclining position with his left side leaning 
against a rough stone from which issues a stream of water. At 
his feet is a crocodile and around him gambol naked child- 
ren. (4) 

DOLICHENUS. 

No definite evidence is found for this cult. A stone, how- 
ever, which contained a complete Greek alphabet, followed by 
the phrase xeXsoaav(TOc) too 6so5 has every indication of being 
the work of a follower of Dolichenus. (5) It is extremely like 
the Latin inscription from Carnuntum in Pannonia as was point- 
ed out by Kubitschek. In both cases as well as in that of an 
inscription from Misenum already discussed there is an employ- 
ment of the letters of the alphabet for magical purposes. (6) 
This supposition, which assigns a sacred character to the 

(1) Franz, C. /. G. No. 5793; Meyer loc. cit. Cp. Cavedoni, Bull. InsU 
1852, 76-77. 

(2) Lafaye, Les divinites d'Alexandrie hors de VEgypte 278 cat. No. 51 ; 
Friederichs-Wolters, Die Gipsabgusse antiker Bildwerke 615, No. 1550; von 
Sacken, Die antiken Sculpturen in Wien p. 25 and PI. IX; Clarac, Music de 
sculpture PI. 991, No. 2577. Attributes of Isis were latex conferred upon the 
Madonna. The cult of the Madonna as Healer is very prominent at Naples and 
its vicinity. Mary Hamilton, Incubation 182 f. 

(3) Cp. Wagner, Neilos, Roscher HI, 93. 

(4) This statue has an interesting history, which is related by Capasso- 
De Petra, op. cit. 159 (22). It is portrayed in the same work PI. 3. For the 
type see Wagner, Neilos, Roscher III, 95 f. 

(5) N. S. 1894, 173. 

(6) Kubitschek, C. /. L. Ill, Supp. p. 2281 note to No. 11186. Cp. Hiil- 
sen, Klio, XX (1902) 235 (I). 

-216 - 



stone, seems much more plausible than the view published by 
Viola, that the inscription was of Christian origin and designed 
for scholastic purposes. The latter on epigraphical grounds 
assigns it to the period of the Empire not later than the first 
half of the third century. (1) 

MITHRAS. 

The cult of Mithras is associated in tradition with the 
Grotta di Posilipo on the ancient way between Neapolis and 
Puteoli. In the middle of the passage through the cliff is a Chris- 
tian shrine, which is supposed to have been consecrated orig- 
inally to the great solar deity. The association of Mithras with 
this spot is due to the discovery of a sculptured relief which 
exhibits the bull - slaying divinity accompanied by various 
symbols peculiar to his cult and by busts of Sol and Luna. (2) 
Both above and below the sculptures are the words of an 
inscription recording the fact that the dedication was due to a 
uir clarissimus Appius Claudius Tarronius Dexter. The god is 
designated as omnipotens and his name is preceded by the word 
dew, as is customary in dealing with a foreign divinity. (3) 
But it is worth noting that although certain writers, as recently 
Giinther, connect the monument definitely with the Grotta, the 
most ancient versions of the discovery are not so precise, and 
assign it simply to the region of Posilipo. (4) A similar relief, 
the present whereabouts of which is unknown, may have come 
from the same locality. (5) 

(1) Viola, N. S. 1894, 174. 

(2) The relief is reproduced by Cumont, Textes et monuments II, 250 
No. 93. Cp. Cumont, Mithras, Roscher II, 3069 ; Rusch, Guida del Museo Nazio- 
nale di Napoli 181 No. 668; Beloch 85. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 1479 = Vaglieri 1166: Omnipotent! deo Mithrae Appius 
Claudius Tarronius Dexter u. c. dicat. 

(4) Giinther, Pausilypon 16; Cumont, Textes et monuments II, 485 
No. 93; Stark, Zwei Mithraen der Grossherzoglichen Altertiimersammlung in 
Karlsruhe in Festgahe der XXIV Philologenversammlung 36; Rusch, op. cit. 
181, No. 668. 

(5) Cumont, op. cit. 250, No. 94. Cocchia identifies the shrine in the 
Grotta di Posilipo with that which Petronius records as sacred to Priapus. Saggi 
filologici III, 175 (3). 

- 217 - 



JUDAISM. 

A large number of jews evidently made their home at Nea- 
polis, but no information is at hand about the origin of their 
community or its subsequent development. (1) In fact they 
are not mentioned until the very close of the ancient world. 
Cemeteries used by members of this race are known from liter- 
ary references, and one which was discovered in 1908 has yield- 
ed epitaphs belonging to the fifth century A. D. (2) A seal 
probably belonging to this city contains a representation of the 
branched candlestick. (3) A small column in the form of a 
phallus showing the Greek word and an obscene Hebrew in- 
scription was discovered in an underground room adjacent to 
the burial chambers of the Catacombs of S. Gennaro. This 
object, which gave rise to many theories about the original use 
of the room, is now considered as of late origin and in fact has 
been put in the fourteenth century. (4). The Jews also left 
their impress upon the nomenclature of the city giving rise to 
such topographical designations as Terra del Giudei and Vico 
degli Ebrei. (5) 

In the sixth century they had a monopoly of the food sup- 
ply of the city; favored it would seem by the Goths, they were 
reluctant to become subjects of the Byzantine Emperors and 
gave a valiant futile support to the Neapolitans in resisting the 



(1) Harnack, Die Mission und Ausbreitung des Christentums II, 216; 
Gratz-Eppenstein, Geschichte der Juden V, 39; Ferorelli, Gli ebrei nelVltalia 
meridionale in Arch. star. Nap. XXXII (1907) 244 f. 

(2) Saba Malaspina, Rerum Sicularum historic (1250-1285) in Del Re, 
Cronisti e scritiori sincroni napoletani II, 284; Galante, Un cemetero giudaico 
in Napoli in Memorie Nap. II (1913) 235, 236 f. Pis. II, III. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 8059 (484) (instrumenta domestica). 

(4) Garrucci, Storia deU'arte crislianm II, p. 104, 105. Corcia, Sioria delle 
due Sicilie II, 248; /. G. XIV, 65*; Galante, op. cit. 235 with bibliography; Fe- 
rorelli, Gli ebrei nell'It. merid. dall'eia romana 23. 

(5) G. Fusco, Sulla topografia della citta di Napoli nel medio evo in 
Rend. Nap. 1863-1864, 273; Galante op. cit. 234; Aloe, Arch. stor. Nap. in 
Atti del r. Inst. Veneto LXIII (1903-04) 829; Capasso Topografia della citta di 
Napoli al tempo del Ducato 39 and Mon. Neapolitani ducatus II, part 2, 
p. 163-4. 

- 218 - 



attempt of Belisarius to make himself master of the city. (I) 
At the close of the sixth century Gregory the Great in his letters 
to the Neapolitan bishops Fortunatus and Paschasius deals with 
the problems which the presence of this race created in the 
administration of the Church. (2) 

CHRISTIANITY. 

Legends which have no basis of truth, yet have not lacked 
supporters in modern times, represent the church at Neapolis 
as a foundation of St. Peter, and claim that St. Aspren was 
its first bishop. (3) Nothing in fact is known of this earlv 
period. Extensive catacombs, however, point to the presence 
of an important Christian community at least as early as the 
second century. (4) The largest, which is known as the 
Catacombs of S. Gennaro dei Poveri, has early ceiling deco- 
ration and later paintings beginning with the third century. (5) 
The earliest dated Christian inscription belongs to the year 
377. (6) The list of bishops goes back to the beginning of 
the third century or possibly even to the end of the second, 
thus starting at a date prior to the persecution of Diocletian. 

(1) The citizens determined to resist only after they had been assured 
by the Jews that there would be no lack of food. Procopiua I, 8, 41 ; 10, 24; 
F. Heman, Geschichte des jiidischen Volkes seit der Zerstorung Jerusalems 74 ; 
Tamassia op. cit. 815; Gratz-Eppenstein op. cit. 43; Ferorelli, op. cit 15. 

(2) Gregory the Great, Epist VI, 33, IX 36, XIII, 12 (Migne); Ferorelli, 
op. cit. 8 f., 19, 21. 

(3) Acta Sancti Aspreni in Acta sanctorum August I, p. 201 f . ; Biblio- 
iheca hagiographica Latina I, 117; Capasso, Mon. Neapolitani ducatus I, 157 (1); 
Dubois 165; Trede, Das Heidentum in d. rbm. Kirche II, 175; Scherillo, Delia 
venuia di S. Pietro apostolo nella citta di Napoli 10 f., 222 f. 

Kunst 143. 

(5) Kraus, Real-Encyklopadie der christlichen Alterthiimer II, 132 and 
Geschichte der christlichen Kunst I, 56-57; von Sybel, Christliche Anti\e 

(4) Harnack, op. cit. II, 216; Schultze, Archaologie der Altchrisilichen 
1, 153; Galante, Reiazione sulle catacombe di S. Gennaro in Rend. Nap. XIV 
(1900) 184; a list of this writer's works on the catacombs of Naples in 
Memorie Nap. II (1913) part I, 233 (1); Miiller, RealEncyclopadie fur prote- 
siantische Theologie X, 858 ; Schultze loc. cit. and Die Katakpmben 306. Biblio- 
graphy in Leclercq, Catacombes in Dictionnaire d' archeologie chretienne II, 2444. 

(6) C. /. L. X, 1518. 

- 219 - 



So early a list is seldom found in Italy. (1) Naturally the 
church was able to adduce a goodly number of martyrs. The 
cult of St. Januarius and his companions who were martyred 
at Puteoli became very popular, and is attested by paintings 
in the Catacombs of S. Severo, assigned to the fourth and 
fifth centuries. (2) The flourishing state of the Christian 
church at the beginning of the fourth century is proved by 
the fact that Constantine erected a basilica here as at Capua; 
it has been identified by Sorrentino with the church of S. Re- 
stituta which is now an annex of the Cathedral. (3) 

AENARIA (ISCHIA). 

The island called Aenaria by the Romans and Pithecussae 
by the Greeks is associated with the first settlements of the 
latter people in Italy. Coming under the sway of the Neapol- 
itans, it remained in their possession until their war with 
Rome, and after that event became a part of the Romans* 
public domain (326 B. C). It was restored to Neapolis by 
Augustus in exchange for Capreae (29 B. C.) (4). 

Aenaria probably participated in general in the cults 
maintained at Neapolis. Its specialty was the worship of 
Apollo and the Nymphs, who were revered in the southern 
part of the island at the warm springs of Nitroli (5). The 
goddesses who presided over this locality were called from 
the quality of the water Nitrodes or Nitrodiae, a word from 

(1) Gesta episcoporum Neapalitanorum 402 f. ; Lanzoxii, Le origini del 
cristianesimo nella Campania romana in Riv. storico-crit. delle scienze teol 
VI (1910) 115; Galante, Bull, arch, crist. 1883, 86. 

(2) Galante, Bull arch, crist. V (1867) 74; Garrucci, Storia dell'arte 
cristiana II, PI. I05A; Scherillo, Ndlla prima catacomba di S. Gennaro in Atti 
Nap. V (1870-71) 170 f . ; Delehaye, Les origines du culte des martyrs 342. 

(3) Liber Pontificalis, Sylvester XXXII (Duchesne's edition I, 186); Gesta 
episcoporum Neapolit. in Scriptores rerum Langobardicarum et Jtalicarum 
p. 404 = Capasso, Mon. Neapolitani ducatus I, 165; Sorrentino, La basalica 
costantiniana in Atti Nap. XXV (1908) 241-2. 

(4) Beloch 204; Mommsen, C. /. L. X, 679; Hiilsen, Aenaria, P.-W. I, 594 
Pais, Ancient Italy 181 and Ricerche stor. e geog. 227. 

(5) Strab. V. 49 (248); Plin, nat. XXXI, 9.; Pais, Ancient Italy 200 (1) and 
Ricerche stor. e geog. 251 (2); Preller-Jordan II, 145. 

-220 - 



which the modern name of the place is derived, and along 
wkh Apollo received adoration as healing divinities (1). 
Their shrine was the recipient of many dedications presented 
by its patrons who had experienced some benefit from the 
kindly deities. A considerable number of inscriptions which 
accompanied the offerings left at the shrine have been recov- 
ered; one of them was made by Argenna, a freedwoman of 
the Empress Poppaea (2). In the reliefs that portray both 
Apollo and the Nymphs, the former is usually depicted holding 
a lyre (3). This subject and a representation of Cupids 
struggling for the prize of victory have led to the belief that 
musical and gymnastic contents were celebrated here, but 
there is no real evidence to support this opinion (4). 

A Greek inscription alludes to a dedication to the invin- 
cible Mithras (5). 



(1) The worship of the Nymphs was common in Campania especially 
along the coast where springs were abundant. Another important seat of their 
cult was on the shore of Lake Bracciano at Vicarello in the territory that belong- 
ed in ancient t'mes to Etraria. Bloch, Nymphen, Roscher III, 545; Ihm, 
Nitrodes, Roscher III, 443. 

(2) /. G. XIV, 892, 893; C. /. L. X, 6786-6799 and addenda 6794; D. 
3873-3875; Vaglieri 1174-1180: In some cases 1 the origin is doubtful. The refer- 
ence to Argenna occurs in C. /. L. X, 6787. 

(3) Gerhard-Panofka, Neapels anftfce Bildwerke Nos. 510, 546, 547; 
Riisch, Guida 183 f . ; Nos. 674, 676, 678, 682, 684, 687, 689, 694, 696, 698, 700; 
Baumeister, Denkmaler des J^Iass. Alteriums I, 499 No. 541. 

(4) Preller-Jordan II, 145 (5). 

(5) /. G. XIV, 891=Cumont, op. cit. II, No. 149. 

- 221 - 



CHAPTER V. 
POMPEII AND HERCULANEUM. 



Beyond Herculaneum to the southwest of Vesuvius are 
the extensive remains of Pompeii. Its territory originally com- 
prised the lower portion of the Sarnus Valley, the remainder 
of which belonged to Nuceria and Stabiae. Standing formerly 
much nearer the shore -than at present, it had some commercial 
importance in early times, and served as the port of entry 
for the wares billed to Nola and Nuceria and also, if Strabo's 
statement is credible, to Acerrae (1). As it occupied elevated 
ground above the mists that occasionally hovered over the 
river, its site promoted the health of the inhabitants and 
offered an agreeable view in all directions. Its position, in a 
word, was one of the most pleasing that can be imagined, - 
marked by a charm that has continued till the present moment. 
Furthermore in addition to the walled town there were sub- 
urbs comprising a settlement at the mouth of the Sarnus, 
another at the salt-works by the sea, a rural community of 
uncertain location, the pagus Augustus Felix suhurbanus, and 
probably a pagus Campanus. 

Though never an important city, Pompeii had an active 
business life which brought material prosperity. When it was 
no longer a port of any prominence, it still exhibited many 

(1) Strab. V. 247C. The relations of Acerrae with the Samnite valley are 
discussed by Pais, Ancient Italy \75 = Ricerche stor. e geog. 221 ; That this was 
the port of Acerrae was denied by Mau, Pompeji in Leben und Kunst (2) 3 but 
defended by Nissen, Pom. Studien 581 and Pais, Ricerche stor. e geog. 221 ; Cp. 
De Petra, / porti antichi delVltalia meridionale 327; Orlando, Storia di Nocera 
dei Pagani I, ]87. 

- 222 - 



forms of industrial enterprise and derived favorable returns 
from the culture of the vine, the raising of vegetables, fishing 
and manufacturing. The people themselves were a mixture 
of Oscan, Latin and Greek elements with the usual number of 
slaves belonging to all nationalities; to the stationary popu- 
lation must be added a number of Romans who built villas 
on the slopes of Vesuvius. The total population has been 
variously estimated at from 12000 to 20000. 

Pompeii was an O&cwm settlement founded at an early 
date which is quite uncertain, but it was cotisiil&Eably in- 
fluenced by the Greeks in the neighboring towns. In the fifth 
century B. C. it was subject to Etruscan domination. In the 
last quarter of that century it came under the rule of the Sam- 
nites along with other Campanian cities; as a result of the 
Samnite wars it became subject to Rome. After remaining 
faithful till 90 B. C. it joined the Italian allies, but was captured 
after considerable difficulty by Sulla and forced to receive a 
body of Roman colonists, who for some time enjoyed a pos- 
ition of superiority. Henceforth the official language was 
Latin, although Oscan remained the speech of a large portion 
of the population beyond the Christian era. It suffered much 
from the volcanic disturbances of 63 A. D., when a large part 
was levelled to the ground, and in 79 was completely destroyed 
by debris from Vesuvius. (1) A commission of senators, sent 
by Titus to investigate the needs of the stricken district, re- 
ported in favor of rebuilding, but their recommendation was 
never carried into effect. (2) 

In contrast to the meager information which has reached 
us regarding the temples and cults of most of the ancient 
Campanian communities, in the case of Pompeii, owing to 
the peculiar fate which fell to its lot and the consequent re- 
searches upon its site, we have preserved for us a considerable 
number of facts, so that we can obtain a fairly complete 



(1) There is a possibility that the earthquake occured in 62 A. D. The 
date is discussed by Chabert, Melanges Boissier 115. 

(2) For the history of Pompei' see Mau 7 f . ; Mau-Kelsey Pompeji (2) 8 f . ; 
Mommsen, C. /. L. X, p. 89 ; Thedenat, PompSi-histoire, vie privee I f . ; Nissen, 
669 f. 

-223 - 



picture of its religious life. In other places the existence of 
certain cults is largely problematical and based upon iso- 
lated inscriptions the origin of which is not free from doubt, 
but here the varieties of worship are for the most part quite 
certain, and can generally be associated with temples the 
ruins of which are still visible. Furthermore a great number 
of wall paintings have been discovered which had a religious 
or semi-religious significance. Most often, it is true, the gods 
appear in the portrayal of mythological legends, which are 
principally of a decorative character and so belong to the 
domain of art rather than to religion. Yet not infrequently a 
style of picture, usually of inferior technical execution, is 
found where the religious motive is evident. These include 
details of sacrifice and ritual, the employment of gods upon 
the exteriors of houses and shops as a protection, and espe- 
cially representations of the Lares and the Genius for the 
worship of the household. They prove the piety of the occu- 
pant of the house and at the same time reveal something of 
his taste in religion. (1) 

The advantages of a study of religion here are, therefore, 
correspondingly great; not only do we derive a knowledge of 
the religious activity of the Pompeians themselves, but also 
we gain an insight into conditions ordinarily prevalent in the 
provincial towns and thereby can supplement the scattered 
details transmitted to us in the case of the rest. 

PRE-ROMAN CULTS, ZEUS-JUPITER 

Jupiter was venerated at Pompeii under more than one 
aspect. There are first a few references to him without any 
qualifying epithet; these include a fragment which mentions 
a temple and a simple dedication made jointly by three persons 
in the payment of a vow. (2) As Milichius, the beneficent 

(1) Helbig, Wandgemdlde der vom Vesuv verschutteten Stddte Catnpa- 
niens 1 ; von Mayer, Pompeii as an 'Art City 23; De Marchi, II culto privato di 
Roma antica I, 90. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 925 :... M. L aedem louis. ; C. /. h. X, 926 : Q. Lollius Scylax 
et Calidia Antiochis mater, M. Calidius Nasta Ioui u. s. 1. m. 

-224- 



deity, interested in nature and the life of the agricultural folk, 
the god was introduced or at least modified under Greek in- 
fluence; the only reference, however, to his cult is an inscription 
written in Oscan pointing specifically to a shrine which may 
go back as far as the third century B. C. The sense of this 
record is that two aediles, while improving the local roads, 
repaired the via Pompeiana as far as the sanctuary of Jupiter 
Milichius. (1) 

The allusion seems to be to a shrine formerly ascribed 
to Aesculapius, which is located northeast of the large theater, 
adjacent to the temple of Isis, and which opens on the strada 
Stabiana. (2) This building, the smallest in size of the temples 
hitherto excavated, consisted of a colonnade with a room to 
the right for the custodian, a court with a large altar, a te- 
trastyle portico, and a cella. The various parts of the remains 
do not all indicate the same period; the more recent portion, 
including most of the walls, has been attributed to the early 
years of the Roman colonization, while the remnants of the 
columns are referred to an earlier structure of the Samnite 
period to which the Oscan inscription belongs. At the rear of 
the cella was discovered a pedestal supporting two images, 
one representing a male, the other a female divinity, and 
with them the bust of a female figure. All were rude terra- 
cottas of poor quality whose identification has caused much 
perplexity. (3) 

Nissen, who was the first to recognize here the shrine of 
Jupiter Milichius from the topographical indications of the 
inscription mentioned above, considered that the name Jupiter 
Milichius was the equivalent of Aesculapius. He thought 
further that the terra-cotta images represented this deity along 
with Hygia and Minerva Medica, and believed that this 
shrine primarily in honor of the god of healing was erected 

(1) Buck 3 = Conway 39= von Planfca 28. This inscription is put among 
the earliest epigraphical material written in Oscan that has been found here. 

(2) Nissen, Orientation 287 thinks that the temple, which faces the east, 
was oriented according to the star Pollux of the Gemini. 

0) For a description of the temple see Thedenat, Pompei vie publique 67 ; 
Mau, chap. XXVI; Mau-Kelsey chap. XXVI. References to older literature in 
Mau-Kelsey 527. 

- 225 - 

15 



to commemorate the advent of Greek medicine in the third 
century B. C. (1) The same writer has published also a later 
theory based upon his belief in the derivation of the essen- 
tials of Roman religion from Samothrace. According to this 
view Jupiter Milichius, the original inhabitant of the shrine, 
was identified with the « great god » [Jupiter from that region, 
who took with him into the sanctuary Juno and Minerva, the 
other members of the triad. But as Nissen himself remarks, 
parallels for the identification of the earlier Jupiter with the 
Great God from Samothrace are not available. (2) More plau- 
sible, if not wholly convincing, is the opinion of Mau that 
the images represent the divinities of the Capitoline triad, who 
were temporarily housed here because of an emergency. (3) 
The real deity of the temple was Milichius, whose likeness 
perhaps appears (or at least appeared at one time) upon one 
of the pilaster capitals, - a bearded face with kindly expression, 
which attempted to make manifest the graciousness of the god. 
It was a token of Greek influence from an artistic as well as 
from a religious point of view. (4) 

Jupiter was sometimes honored at street altars, one of 
which may be found not far from the northwestern corner of 
the Forum. It contains a relief in stucco exhibiting a sacrificial 
scene and the representation of an eagle to indicate that it 
belonged to the service of Jupiter. (5) Besides innumerable 
appearances in wall paintings that depict mythological scenes, 
he is sometimes found in pictures having more of a sacred 
character. Thus he appears in the group of the twelve major 
divinities, and alone with scepter and thunderbolt beneath a 
painted aedicula upon the exterior wall of a store. (6) His 
image too was included in private shrines. (7) 

(1) Nissen, Pompejanische Studien 177, 535 and Das Templum 195. 

(2) Nissen, Orientation 282 f. 

(3) See p. 244. 

(4) Mau 190; Mau-Kelsey 184; Mau, Das Capitolium und der Tempel de& 
Zeus Meilichios in Rom. Mitt. XI (1896) 47. Cp. Preller-Robert 129; Rubensohn, 
Die Mysterienheiligtumer in Eleusis und Samothrace 198. 

t5) Mau 240; Mau-Kelsey 235. 

(6) Helbig, Wandgemalde 5, Nos. 7, 8. 

(7) Helbig, op. dt. No. 69b. 

- 226 - 



APOLLO. 

Apollo was zealously worshipped and held in high regard 
from the early times. This cult, an example of Greek influence 
transmitted from neighboring towns, was housed in one of 
the oldest and most magnificent public buildings of the city 
and was located on the west side of the Forum. Though it 
was long thought to be the abode of Venus, not the slightest 
doubt remains that it should be allotted to Apollo (1). This 
fact is proved by details found in the temple, such as the 
presence of a block of tufa shaped like an omphahs, the 
employment of griffins in the decoration of the peristyle, and 
the painting of a large tripod on a pilaster of the court. An 
inscription formed by metal dots inserted in the margin of a 
part of the cella floor, records the fact that Oppius Campanius 
a quaestor had utilized funds frorn Apollo's treasury for new 
buildings or repairs (2). The large travertine altar in front 
of the temple contains a double inscription which states that 
a board of quattuoruiri had let the contract for its erection. As 
the names of the four officials are without cognomina Mau 
suggested that the date of the monument was not later than 
the time of Augustus (3). The cult image itself was not dis- 
covered when the sanctuary was excavated. 

As the location of this building was determined before 
the present scheme of the Forum's outlines was designed, it 
does not stand quite parallel with the Forum colonnade* 
Though the antiquity of the temple is demonstrated by this 
fact, the present building is clearly a restoration, since its 
materials and style of architecture suggest no earlier a date 

(1) The correct indentification was made by Mau. Bull. Inst. 1882, 189, 
205, but Engelmann had already pointed toward this solution in the Vossische 
Zeitung 1879 No. 236 and 1882 No. 409 (not accessible to me). Nissen had as- 
signed the shrine to Ceres, Pomp. Studien 330 ; Breton, to Venus, Pompeia (3), 
58 ; Overbeck, to Venus or Bacchus, Pompeji (3) 94 ; Garrucci, toi Mercury and 
Maia Quest, pomp. 7. 

(2) Buck 6 = Conway 52= von Planta 31. Cp. Jordan, Symbolae ad histor- 
iatn religionutn Italicarum 16. 

(3) C. /. U. X, 800 = D. 6354=Vaglieri 1831 : M. Porcius M. f., L. Sextilius 
L. f., Cornelius Cn. f., A. Cornelius A. f. 1111 v'r III luir d. d. s. f. locar. Mau 
82; Mau-Kelsey 86. 

-227 - 



than 200 B. C, and are in; truth similar to those of the surround- 
ing buildings. It faced the south, thus belonging to the 
second group of temples in point of time (1). Architecturally 
considered, it was an example of the Corinthian order, and 
stood upon a high podium, wholly surrounded by a colonnade 
which formed a spacious court. The cella was small and in- 
tended for a single cult statue (2). 

The court exhibited an interesting example of the tendency 
of one deity to associate with another. Here stood a group of 
six statues including Apollo himself, Venus, Diana, and Mer- 
cury; two-those of Venus and Diana- were provided with altars 
for sacrifice. In the case of the former Mau believed that it 
was a survival from early times when the old*Oscan goddess 
Herentas had no other place of worship, but, as Wolters has 
recently pointed out, it was more probably a recent addition 
to the shrine, designed as a temporary accomodation for the 
divinity who was rendered homeless by the earthquake of 63 
A. D., when her own temple was demolished (3). So far as 
can now be determined there was never a separate shrine for 
Diana. All the gods of this court according to Nissen were 
chthonic deities like those honored in the mysteries celebrated 
at Andania in Messenia (4). But while some of the Pompeian 
deities can be explained as belonging to the nether realms, 
notably Mercury, whose statue suggests the type of Hermes 
Psychopompus, others as Venus are not so readily disposed 
of in that way. Since the distinctive mystery divinities do not 
appear among these images, there is no reason for seeing a 
connection between them and Andania. In fact the view was 
only plausible when Ceres was considered to be the mistress 

(1) Nissen, Orientation 284. 

(2) For detailed information about ithe temple see Thedenat 35-39; Mau 
chap. X ; Mau-Kelsey chap. X ; Nissen chap. XIV. References to older works in 
Mau-Kelsey, 520. 

(3) Mau 83; Mau-Kelsey 87; Wolters, Der Skulpturenschmuck des ApoU 
loheiligtums in Pompei in Sitzungsber. der kgl bay. A\ad. der Wissens. 1915, 
47. 

(4) Paus. IV, 33, 5; Nissen, Orientation 284 and Pomp. Studien 332 f. 
The author formed his views under the influence of the older idea that this 
temple belonged to Ceres, and still retains them although he abandons the 
claim of that goddess. 

- 228 * 



of this shrine. At the same time we may admit with Nissen 
the strength of Greek influence in this temple during the pe- 
riod of Oscan supremacy. 

From the age and position of his temple Apollo must be 
considered the leading god of that era (I). His popularity is 
attested by the many traces of his influence in private houses. 
His name appears in two graffiti, scratched upon a pillar of 
the dwelling known as the Casa del Conte di Torino (2). Be- 
sides the many statues erected In his honor, he figures exten- 
sively in wall paintings generally in connection with myths 
and often accompanied by other gods (3). In one instance 
he appears as a healing divinity along with Aesculapius and 
Chiron (4). Furthermore his peculiar symbols, the lyre, the 
bow, the quiver, the tripod, and the crown of laurel recur 
constantly. Of course in all this the decorative idea is the 
primary motive; yet the various artistic products were not 
wholly free from religious associations and their cumulative 
mass is an evidence of the prominent position of the god in 
the thought of the times. 

DIANA. 

As indicated above, Diana seems not to have had a 
shrine of her own, but to have received recognition in the 
Apollo temple where she had an altar and an image. In this 
sanctuary, during the excavations of 1817 was discovered a 
perplexing inscription, the interpretation of which, because 
of its abbreviations, has revealed many differences of opinion. 
This notice, written upon a small pedestal surmounted by 
the mutilated figure of a deer, is a dedication made with the 
aedile's permission by M. Fabius Secundus, a man of prom- 
ts Mau, Rom. Mitt. XL XI (1896) 144. 

(2) N. S. 1911, 54, Apollon, Apoll. 

(3) Helbig op. cit. 51 f . ; Sogliano, Le pitture murali campane 26. He is 
found especially "n late myths which received literary treatment during the Alex- 
andrian period, as for instance in that of Cyparissus. Preller-Roberts 271 (2); 
Helbig, t/nfersuc/itxngen Uber die campanische Wandmalerei 230 (4); Sogliano 
op. cit. 28, Nos. 109, 110. 

(4) Helbig op. cit. 54, No. 202. 

- 229 ~ 



inence in the life of Pompeii during its later epoch (1) 
The divinity here reverenced is concealed in the letters T. D. 
V. S., which were long interpreted for the most part on the 
basis of the erroneous theory that the temple in which they 
were found belonged to Venus. Garrucci and Fiorelli assigned 
the dedication to Tellus Maia; Nissen, to Tellus, Diana and 
Venus; Brizio, to Tutrix Dea; Guarini, to Dea Venus (2). A 
more acceptable supplement for the abbreviations was pro- 
posed by Tarallo, who from the presence of the deer rightly 
conjectured that the deity indicated was Diana and accordingly 
proposed the plausible reading, Triuiae Deae (or Dianae) uotum 
soluit (3). A similar supplement in which Triviae is replaced 
by 1 ifatae seems less plausible (4). That a dedication should 
be made here to the great deity of Capua is probable enough, 
but it seems less natural to employ so abridged a form of ex- 
pression to designate a goddess whose home was elsewhere, 
and upon whose epithet considerable stress should be laid 
because of her foreign origin. 

CERES. 

The cult of Ceres was another ancient form of worship 
which developed from Greek influence, and was not a late 
growth derived from the cult at Rome as stated by Birt (5). 
There is in fact every reason to believe that she was worship- 
ped here before the arrival of the Romans. Her shrine has 

(1) C. /. L. X, 801 =D. 6386 = Vagleri 1217: T. D. V. S., M. Fabius Se- 
cundus permissu aedil. A. Hordioni Proculi Ti. Iuli Rufi. A photograph of the 
monument is found in Rendic. dei Lincei XXI (1912) 78. The dedicator Fabius 
Secundus is mentioned in the wax-tablets of Caecilius C. /. L. IV, Supp. p. 315. 

(2) Garrucci, Questioni pompeiane 72; F'orelli, Descrizione di Potnpei 
240; Nissen 331 ; Brizio, Giornale degli scavi di P. n. s. I (1869) 252; Guarini, 
Fasti duumvirali di Potnpei 154. 

(3) Tarallo, Interna al donatio del Pompeiano Marco Fabio Secundo 
in Rend, dei Lincei XXI (1912) 69-75. The author gives tx resume of earlier 
opinions. 

(4) Wolters, Der Skalpturenschmuck des Apolloheiligtums in Pompei 
in Sitzungsber. der kgl. bayer. A\ad. der Wissensch. 1915, 52. 

(5) Birt, Ceres, Roscher, I, 863. 

-230 - 



not been discovered, but this is due rather to the circumstance 
that it was located in a spot remote from the center of the town. 
In specifying that Ceres' sanctuary should be outside the city 
proper and in speaking generally about temple sites, Vitru- 
vius must have based his assertion upon a state of affairs which 
tnpre ior leiss generally prevailed (1). But, while the temple 
site is unknown, the names of several priestesses have been 
preserved, who are designated regularly as sacerdotes publicae. 
In epitaphs and in fragments discovered among the remains 
of the « Building of Eumachia » appear the names of Alleia 
Decimilla, Clodia, and Lassia, and the names of others have 
been lost (2). An inscription in Greek, accompanied by reliefs 
of the goddess, an altar and a pig, mentions Terentia Faramone 
as priestess of Demeter Thesmophoros ; this has been some- 
times assigned to Neapolis but probably belongs here, although 
there is no other allusion to this aspect of the deity at Pom- 
peii (3). All these women were probably matrons; considering 
their office a great honor, they express with simplicity and 
dignity in their epitaphs their relation to their mistress Ceres. 
As public priestesses they were doubtless chosen by the de- 
curions at least in the later period of the city's history (4). 
To that age belong Alleia Decimilla, whose husband was 
duovir in 26 A. D., and Clodia, who flourished about the 
beginning of the Christian era or a little later. This cult was on 
friendly terms with that of Venus, as will be shown later, but 
owing to the extraordinary prominence of the latter, there was 
perhaps a tendency for the former's influence to be eclipsed (5). 
Ceres was also adored in the home along with the Lares, 



(1) Vifcr. I, 30: Item Cereri extra urbem loco, quo non quolibet nomine 
semper homines nisi per «acrificium yiecesse habebant adire; cum religione, 
caste sanctisque moribus is locus debet tueri. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 812; X, 1036 = D. (365 ^Va^iicti 1768; X, 1074a, b=D. 5053. 
Cp. Pestalozza e Chiesa, Ceres, Ruggiero II, 208. 

(3) /. G. XIV, 702 = C. /. G. 5865; Bloch, Kora und Demeter, Roscher 11, 
1309; Kern, Demeter, P.-W. IV, 2742; The reliefs in which Demeter appears 
are reproduced in Kun&tblaft 1828 161. See p. 186. 

(4) See p. 33. 

(5) See p. 251. 

-231 - 



and statuettes showing her likeness have been found in small 
domestic shrines (I). 

HERCULES. 

Although epigraphical evidence for a cult of Hercules is 
lacking, he is associated with this country in legend, and in 
fact was an important god throughout Campania. According 
to one of the versions of Hercules' travels he spent some time 
in the locality and a procession (pompa) of his booty gave its 
name to the town. Not only does Servius give this explanation, 
but also Solinus in his list of towns founded by gods or named 
from them asserts that Pompeii owed its existence or at least 
its name to Hercules (2). It is true that this theory shows the 
attempts of the etymologists to derive the city's name from 
some plausible source, yet it would have lacked point, if the 
worship of the god had not been important here. Furthermore 
the salinae or salt works at the mouth of the River Sarnus, 
where a village subject to Pompeii sprang up, were called 
Herculeae (3). 

Accordingly, because of the prominence of this god in 
early Campanian traditions, Fiorelli thought that the so called 
Doric or Greek temple must have been used for his worship (4). 
Recently Cosenza has made the assertion that Hercules had 
a temple at Pompeii, but one does not know where to find * 
it (5). But if no public shrine of Hercules has yet been discov- 
ered, various evidences for his presence appear. In the first 
place it has been suspected that the missing herm in the court 
of Apollo's temple was in reality Hercules instead of Maia, 

(1) N. S. 1902, 206. 
(2) Serv, A en. VII, 662: Veniens autem Hercules de Hispania per Cam- 
paniam in quadam Campaniae ciuitate pompam triumphi sui exhibuit: unde 
Pompei dicitur ciuitas. Sol. 2, 5: Nam quis ignorat uel dicta uel condita ...ab 
ipso (Hercule) in Campania Pompeios, qua uictor ex Hispania pompam bourn 
duxerat? Cp. Dion. Hal. I, 43. 

(3) Colum. X, 135. 

(4) Fiorelli, Gli scavi di Pompei appendix p. 14. This writer assigned 
to the domain of Pompeii the island Petra Herculis about the location of which 
there is some doubt. 

(5) Cosenza, Stabia 120 (2). 

- 232 - 



as has generally been assumed (1). In the aediculae for the 
worship of the Lares his image has been found accompanied 
sometimes by that of other divinities (2). His likeness appears 
not only in wall paintings with the Genius but also upon the 
exteriors of houses as a protection (3). Upon one such wall 
was found a metrical inscription containing an invocation to 
Heracles to guard the house (4). 

Cacus, who appears in myths associated with Hercules, 
was according to one interpretation a volcanic deity whose 
haunt was Mt. Vesuvius (5). 

ATHENA-MINERVA. 

Minerva was regarded as the special guardian of the city 
gates. On the keystone of the arch of the Nola gate facing the 
city a high relief of her head wearing a helment was carved in 
the tufa. Near the porta Marina a niche contained her image 
in terra cotta; another in the wall of the porta Stabiana where 
the passage widens to form an open court, was likewise de- 
signed to hold an image, and the cover of the well near by 
is marked with her emblem the Gorgon (6). In this phase of 
her activity she must be considered as a development of the 
Greek Athena, because among the Romans Juno rather than 
Minerva protected gates (7). 

She was the patron deity of the fullers and her symbols 
the owl and the wreath of olive leaves decorate the wall of 
a cleaning establishment (8). This bird is mentiond in a wall 
inscription evidently written by one who followed the fuller's 
trade, in which there occurs a parody of the first line of the 

(1) Welters op. cit. 47. Cp. Mau 64; Nissen 333. 

(2) Helbig op. cit. No. 69b; Bohm, Hercuies, P.-W. VIII, 594. 

(3) Helbig, Nos. 69, 27; Neapolis I (1913) 105; N. S. 1899, 341 ; Sogliano, 
Le pitture murali campane 9, No. 4. 

(4) C. /. L. IV, 733. 

(5) Winter, The Myth of Hercules at Rome in Univ. of Michigan Stud- 
tea IV, 268. 

(6) Thedenat, PompSi 7; Mau 247; Mau-Kelsey 242. 

(7) Serv. \Aen. II, 610; Simul notandum quod deos facit opera sua euer- 
tere, ut portas Iunonem quarum dea est. 

(8) Real Museo di Napoli IV, PI. 49 ; Mau, Fig. 243 ; Mau-Kelsey Fig. 226. 

-233 - 



Aeneid (I). A fresco seems to contain a picture of a festival, 
perhaps the Quinquatrus, in which this goddess was honored 
especially by the fullones. In one part of the picture a sacellum 
is probably represented. The presence of several owls shows 
that the deity concerned here is Minerva. The festival is 
portrayed as a scene of pranks and merry making in the open 
air during which a quarrel arises. (2) Finally the goddess like 
Hercules, Mercury and other divinities was sketched roughly 
upon a house in order to exercise a protection over it. (3) 

A street inscription in the Oscan tongue is important 
because it alludes to her shrine. This notice was discovered 
in 1897 in the Strada dell'Abbondanza northwest of the 
Triangular Forum. It mentions a way leading to the municipal 
building and to Minerva, and seems to refer to a street that 
was subsequently closed at the farther end (4). Although the 
goddess was worshipped as one of the triad in the Capitoline 
temple, it is quite probable that at an earlier period before the 
introduction of the Roman state cult she had another shrine 
as Athena to which the above inscription alludes. Recently 
she has been associated with the so-called Greek temple of 
the Triangular Forum, which has long been a puzzle to 
archaeologists. This sanctuary, a Doric building ascribed to 
the sixth century B. C. and so the oldest in the city, was reared 
upon a high podium composed of a series of broad steps, 
thus differing from all other temples in the city. (5) It faced 
the east. (6) In front, in a spot where the principal altar might 

(1) N. S. 1913, 147; fullones. Vlulam ego cano, non arma uirumque. 

»2) Sogliano, op. cit. 134; Giornale degli scavi di P. n. s. Ill, 103 and 
PI. IV. Cp. Plin. nat. XXXV, 143; Jahn, Arch. Zeit. XII (1854) 191 ; Mommsen, 
Rdmische Ur\nden in Zeits. fiir geschichtliche Rechtswiss. XV (1850) 330 = 
ftesam. Schr. HI, 99. For a description of the festival see Wissowa 253 ; Fowler, 
Roman Festivals 59. 

(3) Mau 241 ; Mau-Kelsey 236; Helbig p. 6, No. 10. 

(4) Buck 18=N. S, 1897, 465. The inscription was found on the north 
side of insula V-VI of regio VIII. 

(5) The temple is dated by Pais at the end of the sixth or the begin- 
ning of the fifth century, and by Nissen, Mau, and Thedenat in the sixth cen- 
tury. Pais, Ancient Italy 174— Ricerche stor. e geog. 221 ; Nissen, Orientation 
281; Mau 138; Thedenat 5. 

(6) Nissen 280. 

,234 * 



be expected, was a small sacred enclosure containing perhaps 
the bones of some great man of the distant past who was 
reverenced as the city's hero. There was also a well, the water 
of which served for the necessities of the temple and its ritual; 
according to epigraphical evidence it was the work of an 
Oscan magistrate, the meddix tuticus N. Trebius. A singular 
circumstance is that the temple was practically in ruins when 
the city met its doom, and only a poor shrine maintained the 
customary worship. Whether it was overthrown by the 
earthquake of 63 or was already badly dilapidated is 
disputed. (1) 

The double cella and the presence of three altars in front 
point to the probability that the temple was devoted to several 
gods but these have never been satisfactorily determined. 
Among those that received consideration from earlier scholars 
were Jupiter, Hercules, Liber, and Venus. (2) According to 
another theory based upon the discovery of the foot of a terra 
cotta deer in the temple itself and a small statue resembling 
Apollo not far away in the Triangular Forum, the gods housed 
here were Apollo and Diana. (3) Admitting this possibility, 
Mau was inclined to attribute the shrine to them along with 
Minerva (4). Although Nissen later recognized the validity 
of the Oscan inscription as a reason for assigning the temple 
to a deity known as Minerva, he was inclined after a comparison 
with Greek shrines to think that this goddess was of a 
chthonic nature. (5) 

The worship of the Greek Athena may well have been 
introduced at an early date as the result of Greek influence. 
Yet at Pompeii indications of her early prominence are not at 



(!) For a description of the temple see Thedenat 5; Mau 137-140; Mau- 
Kelsey (with bibliography) 523 ; and especially Koldewey und Puchstein, Die 
griechischen Tempel in Unteritalien und Sicilien 45 f . and Plate V. Cp. So- 
gliano, il tempio nel foro triangolare di Pompei in Mon. ant. I (1890) 190 f. 

(2) Overbeck-Mau, Pompeji 88; Nissen, 336 f. and Das Templum 204; 
Breton, Pompeia 44; Dyer, Pompeii 246. 

(3) Sogliano (following von Duhn) // tempio nel foro triangolare in Mon. 
ant. I 1890) 198. 

(4) Mau 140. Cp. Thedenat 7. 

(5) Nissen, Orientation 281. 

-235 - 



hand, and generally in Campania except at Surrentum her 
cult seems not to have been of first rate importance. Hence it 
seems more probable that Apollo was the leading deity 
worshipped here, but that his worship along with Diana's 
was transferred more and more to the newer temple which 
had been built in his honor in the Forum. After the practical 
departure of Apollo the temple was probably not at once 
allowed to go to ruin, as Sogliano thought. (1) Minerva, who 
had formerly been a subordinate deity, was still venerated 
here, and gave her name to the building at the time of the 
Social War to which belongs the inscription noted above. 



VENUS HERENTAS. 



Venus, called by the Oscans Herentas, was undoubtedly 
one of the deities of the pre-Roman period. She was of a 
purely Italic origin, and probably resembled the old Latin 
Venus of Ardea. The only evidence for a Venus cult at this 
time is the altar that stood in Apollo's temple before an 
image. (2) Yet even when this sanctuary was restored in the 
tufa period (the second century B. C), the goddess had 
probably been materially modified by the influence of the 
Venus of Eryx and was named Herentas Erycina. (3) A survival 
of the older conception is expressed upon a piece of pottery 
where Venus is called the protectress of gardens and shows 
herself to be a nature goddess whose interest centers in certain 
agricultural operations. (4) The later Venus cult introduced 
by the Roman colonists will be discussed in the section devoted 
to Roman divinities. (5) 



(1) Sogliano 199. 

(2) Mau 83. See p. 228. 

(3) Mau 38. Cp. the account of this cult at Herculaneum p. 285. 

(4) C. /. L. IV, 2776; Wissowa 288-289 ; Preller-Jordan I, 435. 

(5) See p. 246. 

-236 - 



NEPTUNE. 



Evidence for the worship of Neptune consists of an 

inscription found outside the walls near the harbor in the 

direction of Castellamare. It records an offering made by a 

Hbertinus Sex. Pompeius Ruma, perhaps a freedman of the 

noted Sextus Pompey, and tends to prove that there was a 

shrine of the god somewhere near the city. (1) That it was 

not merely an isolated dedication is rendered probable by the 

circumstance that in the same place were found a gold chain 

and a portrait bust probably of some traveler who had escaped 

the perils of the sea. We may therefore infer that in this 

neighborhood once stood a shrine of the Greek sea god 

Poseidon or of Neptune conceived with the characteristics of 

the Greek deity. (2) Neptune is further mentioned in a graffito 

on the wall of the temple of Venus. (3) 

MERCURY, MAIA. 

The earliest traces of a worship of Mercury are found in 
the temple of Apollo, where along with the images of other 
divinities stood a marble herm, which has been dated as 
pre-Roman. (4) The facial expression seems to suit Hermes 
as Psychopompus better than any of his other aspects, and 
he was undoubtedly regarded as a god of death. Though this 
conception is not unnatural here, it is more surprising to find 
the same kind of god in a place for gymnastic exercises. Yet 
this is the form which he assumes in the court of the Stabian 
baths, derived it would seem from a Greek type, which is 
described by Pausanias as existing in the gymnasium at 



(!) C. /. L. X, 8157 = iV. S. 1881, 121: Sex. Pompeius Sex, I. Ruma Nep- 
tuno u. s. 1. Von Duhn, Der Hafen von Pompei in Rh. Mus. XXXVI (1881) 
130. 

(2) Cp. von Domaszewski, Neptunus auf lateinischen Inschriften in 
Abhandl. zur rom Religion 19; Wissowa 226. 

(3) C. /. L. IV, 1764, Neptunus. 

(4) Mau-Kelsey 88. 

- 237 - 



Phigalia in Arcadia. (1) It is even probable that the herm of 
the Apollo temple belonged originally to a palaestra and was 
set up in its new location after the great earthquake. (2) 
Mau conjectured that a statue of this god stood in the open 
Palaestra near the Triangular Forum, where a pedestal without 
a corresponding image was unearthed. Others have thought 
that a statue of the doryphoros type found near by was intended 
to represent him. (3) 

Usually, however, Mercury was honored under an entirely 
different aspect. As a patron of commerce and business 
enterprise, his cult, if not introduced, was at least greatly 
strengthened by Roman influence and he gained considerable 
populary with the thrifty Pompeians. (4) In many wall 
paintings the conventional Mercury as messenger of the gods 
with winged petasus and sometimes winged sandals is the 
bearer of a purse. This is an unusual attribute, and alludes 
to the prominence given the god as one who promotes gain. 
In truth Mercury, the protector of trade and shops, appears 
more often than any other deity in the rough sketches which 
associate a tutelary divinity with a building. He is not, however, 
always depicted alone but may be accompanied by Fortuna, 
Venus or Apollo. (5) Beneath one of his pictures is the 
inscription Mercurius Felix. (6) A male figure in the act of 
pouring wine, which was painted on a tavern wall, is marked 
by the name Hermes; this was taken by Mau as a reference 
to the proprietor of the establishment, but it might have 
alluded to the god in his function of oivo/doc (7). 

(i)Paus. VIII, 39, 4(6). Cp. IV, 32 1 ; Mau 204; Mau-Kelsey 200. 

J^ *- 811 ™ 6 * and Gardne r. Numismatic Commentary on Pausanias in Jour. 
Hell. Stud. VII (1886) 110. 

(2) Wolters, op. cit. 50. 

(3) Mau, Der Fundort der Neapeler Doryphoros in Strena Helbigiana 
186. Mau 172; Mau-Kelsey 166; Nissen 168; Th^denat 91. 

(4) Scherer, Hermes in der Kunst, Roscher I, 2425-2426. 

(5) Helbig, Wandgemalde 6, No®. 10-20, Nos. 201, 362; Sogliano, PiU 
ture murali campane 9 Nos. 1-3; Eitrem, Hermes, P.-W. VIII, 771; Scherer, 
Roscher I, 2428; Neapolis I (1913) 105; De Marchi, II culto privato di Roma 
antica I, 81 (1). 

(6) C. /. L. IV, 812; Helbig, Wandgemalde No. II; Steuding, Mer- 
curius Roscher II, 2815. 

(7) Eitrem, P.-W. VIII, 780; Mau 421. 

-238 - 



His cult was closely associated with that of Maia, who 
was really an old Italian deity of fertility and increase 
worshipped much around Rome, where she was sometimes 
associated with Bona Dea or Terra ; (!) usually she was 
confused with the Greek mythological character who belonged 
to legend rather than to religion. She is generally supposed 
to have had an image along with Mercury in the Apollo 
temple, but the missing figure there may have represented 
Hercules (2). A considerable number of inscriptions, the work 
of a body of ministri, preserve the name of Maia along with 
that of Mercury. Until recently it was generally believed that 
the organization was originally devoted to the cult of these two 
deities before it adopted the worship of Augustus, but this 
opinion should probably be rejected. The question will be 
considered under the cult of the Emperors. (3) 

DIONYSUS-BACCHUS. 

No shrine dedicated to Dionysus or Bacchus has yet been 
excavated, but without doubt such a one existed. Though a 
painting exhibiting this god was found in the custodian's 
room of the Apollo temple, it does not seem to have had any 
religious significance and there is no indication that he was 
worshipped in this spot. (4) He is mentioned in short painted 
inscriptions and graffiti, and in the exterior wall paintings and 
sketches designed to safeguard the premises, he shares with 
Mercury the honor of most frequent appearance. (5) Several 
of the paintings on inside walls exhibit scenes dealing with 
the cult of Dionysus. Among the details which commonly 
^ appear are a shrine, a cult statue of the god sometimes 
portrayed amid adoring devotees, and his distinguishing 
emblems. Sometimes he is associated with other divinities, as 
Pan and Priapus, and accompanied by Satyrs or Bacchantes. 
Again he is the recipient of offerings either flowers or a slain 

(1) Cp. Macrob. I, 12, 20. 

(2) See p. 232. 

(3) See p. 263. 

(4) Helbig 98, No. 395. 

(5) C. /. L. IV, 1626, 3508; Helbig 9. No*. 23-26. 

- 239 - 



animal (1). In paintings, where the idea of decoration is the 
most prominent factor, he appears in innumerable instances 
and in sculpture is probably to be recognized in the so called 
bronze Narcissus of Naples. (2) 

MINOR DEITIES. 

Flora was worshipped at an early date among the Oscans 
and Sabellians of south central Italy and was regarded as an 
important agricultural deity. (3) The only testimony for her 
cult here is a tiny altar discovered in the Casa del Fauno, which 
contains her name in the Oscani form Flutbai. (4) A bronze 
statuette unearthed at the same time has disappeared. The 
inscription is not necessarily very old; ft belonged to a house 
restored in Sulla's time, upon the walls of which were found 
several Oscan graffiti. The owner seems to have adhered to 
the language longer than most of his fellow citizens. 

Pan's influence is seen in a wall painting referring to his 
cult. He is portrayed in the form of a bronze idol standing 
upon a column in the shade of a sacred tree upon whose 
branches some nets are hanging. Three men, - a hunter, a 
fowler and a fisherman, are in the act of doing obeisance to 
Pan, and have dedicated to him the nets upon the tree. Traces 
of letters remaining on the picture indicate that it contained 
an epigram of Leonidas of Tarentum in keeping with its 
theme (5). The many other paintings in which Pan figures 
have a mythological rather than a religious interest. 

Slight evidence exists for the worship of Aesculapius and 
his companion deity Hygia. The temple and the images once 
supposed to belong to him are now assigned to Jupiter 

(1) Sogliano, Pitture murali campane 51, Nos. 241-247 and Arch. star. 
Nap. II, 601. 

(2) Helbig 93 f. The statue is portrayed in Real Museo di Napoli XVI 
PI. 28; Brunn-Bnickmann, No. 384; Mau-Kelsey 452, Fig. 259. 

(3) Wissowa, Flora, P.-W. VI, 2747; Steuding Flora, Roscher I, 1484; 
Labatut, Flore, son culte et ses jeux 4. 

(4) Conway, No. 46 = von Planta 45. 

(5) C. /. L. IV, 3407 (2)=Anthologia Palatina VI, 13; Sogliano, Pitture 
murali campane No. 197 with references. 

- 240 - 



Milichius, as explained above. (1) Salus, adopted ordinarily 
by the Latins as the equivalent of Hygia, appears in a one 
word inscription painted over two cornucopias that adorn an 
exterior house wall near the Strada di Nola. Beneath is an 
altar where the goddess of health was worshipped, which 
has the distinction of being the only one of its kind that is 
labelled with a name. The shrine was not of late construction, 
because upon an earlier surface underneath the later coating 
another reference to the same divinity appeared (2). 
Aesculapius has been found among the gods revered at 
household shrines but seldom occurs in wall paintings. (3) 

The divinity of the River Sarnus who had so high a place 
among the cults of Nuceria was not wholly disregarded in the 
vicinity of Pompeii, where traces of his cult have been found 
in the wall paintings (4). He was particularly influential in 
the district near the river. In the so called Scavo Matrone, 
where a villa of this region was excavated a few years ago 
on the road to Castellamare, Sarnus is seen among the Penates 
in a domestic cult as a bearded personage crowned with 
reeds. He is seated beneath the shade of a sacred tree, the left 
elbow supported by an upturned urn, the right hand resting 
on his knee. (5) In the market place tnacellum, in the room 
for the sale of meat and fish he is represented among other 
figures which personify parts of the surrounding country, but 
this painting, though portraying various local divinities, is 
purely decorative. (6) 

A wall inscription, found in the Vico del Lupanare is 
explained by Mommsen as an allusion to the divinities of a 
bathing establishment modelled upon those of the capital city. 

(1) See p. 225. 

(2) C. /. L. IV, 3774a, b=N. 5. 189!, 265=Rom. Mitt III (1888) 121 : Sal- 
utis; Salutei sacrum. 

(3) Man 278; Helbig No. 202. 

(4) Helbdg, Nos 65, 1013, 1018. No. 65 showing Venus and Vesta with 
the Lares and Sarnus below is reproduced by De Marchi II culto private di 
Roma antica I, PI. IV, and Mon. ined. delVInst. arch. HI, 6a. Cp. Sogliano, 
op. cit. Nos. 39, 44. 

(5) N. S. 1901, 426. 

(6) Heibig No. 1019. Cp. Mau 94; Mau-Kelaey 98. 

-241 - 

16 



It is limited to the two words Lumpas Homanenses . (I) There 
is no evidence for Bona Dea in this town. Preuner was some- 
what inclined at one time to recognize her figure among the 
Lares, but this divinity is more plausibly explained as a 
Genius. (2) 

ROMAN CULTS, OFFICIAL PRIESTS. 

The care of the official religious ceremonies pertaining 
to the community as a whole was in the hands of augurs and 
pontiffs. The first class is represented by M. Stlaborius Veius 
Fronto and by M. Tullius, both of whom had filled the offices 
of judical duumuir and quinquennalis (3). The second of 
these officials, who flourished about the time of the birth of 
Christ will be mentioned again below m connection with the 
temple of Fortuna Augusta. The word augur alone occurs in 
a graffito (4). Two promimeiit citizens who were honored 
with statues in the Forum and elsewhere, held the office of 
pontiff. The first C. Cuspius Pansa fiHus was a duumuir with 
judicial powers, the other M. Lucretius Decidianus Rufus 
besides this office served as quinquennalis and military 
tribune. (5) The latter belonged to the more recent period of 
the city's history but lived apparently before the reign of 
Tiberius; the date of the former is unknown. (6) 

THE CAPITOLINE TRIAD. 

Although the Capitoline triad was important at Pompeii, 
its deities were overshadowed by the extraordinary prominence 
won by Venus. In the large temple on the northern limits of 
the Forum was found a portion of an inscription headed with 

(1) Mommsen, quoted by Zangemeister in note to C. /. L. IV, 815. 
Mommsen, Unteritalische Didlekjte 256; Vaglieri, note to No. 1181; Bloch, 
Nymphen, Roscher HI, 545. 

(2) Preuner, Hestia-Vesta 240; Peter, Bona Dea, Roscher I, 793. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 806; X, 820= Vaglieri 1849; X, 822. 

(4) C. I. L. IV, 2091. 

(5) C. /. L. X, 788=D, 6363b; X, 789 = D. 6363c; X, 851 =D. 6363d; X, 
791 =D. 6360a; X, 859 = D. 6359a. 

(6) Mommsen, note to C. /. L. X, 788. 789. 

- 242 - 



the letters I. O. M. ; this was set up in the interests of the 
Emperor Caligula and belongs to the year 37 A. D. (I) In 
the cella was found also a large head of Jupiter which bears 
a considerable resemblance to the Zeus of Otricoli. (2) 
Another reference to the god occurs in a dedication made by 
Antistia Methe a matron, where he is associated closely with 
the goddess Venus Fisica. The name Jupiter Optimus Maximus 
also forms a graffito. (3) A Greek inscription found in the 
temple just mentioned, which contains an allusion to the 
Phrygian Zeus will be treated in the section devoted to the 
religions of the Orient. (4) 

In the Capitoline cult Jupiter was naturally honored along 
with Juno and Minerva. It has already been noted that terra 
cotta images of these three divinities stood in the temple 
assigned to Jupiter Milichius at the moment that the city was 
destroyed. Hence the first supposition was to regard this 
sanctuary as the city's Capitolium, although the notion that 
Milichius had been the first inhabitant of the site was not 
excluded. (5) 

To this view there are serious objections. Whenever a 
colony possessed a Capitolium, it tried to imitate the one at 
Rome so far as its own comparatively slender resources and 
local conditions permitted. As this cult had an intimate relation 
to the Roman state, and before the rise of Emperor worship 
served as the chief medium for the expression of patriotic 
devotion to the central government, it was always administered 
on as grand a scale as possible. Such a temple was regularly 
one of the largest shrines in a community, and was raised 



(1) C. /. L. X, 796 = Vagiieri 1110: I. O. M. Pro salute C. Caesaris Au- 
gusti Gornuanici, imp. pontif. max., tribunic. potestat. consulis [Djoctus p. s. 

(2) Gerhard-Panofka, Neapels antih,e Bildwerke 109; Brunn-Bruckmann 
574; Overbeck, Gr. Kunstmyihologie, Zeus 82, No. 13; Mau 65; Mau-Kelsey 
67; Riisch, Guida 97, No. 296. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 928 = D. 3180: Imperio Veneris fisicae Ioui O. M. Anti- 
stia Methe Antisti Primigeni ex d. d. C. /. L. IV, 6864. 

(4) See p. 278. 

(5) Overbeck-Mau, Pompeji 110 f. t 637 (49). Here two temples are as- 
signed to these gods and both are called Capdtolia. Cp. 91. Breton, Pompeia 
54 assigns the temple doubtfully to Jupiter and Juno. 

.243 - 



upon an elevation either natural or artificial. (1) But none 
of these requirements is found in the temple near the triangular 
Forum, as it was unquestionably small and insignificant. It 
is true that the local cult of Venus surpassed that of Jupiter 
in an exceptional manner, so that his luster was thereby 
somewhat obscured ; there is, however, no reason to minimize 
the importance of the Capitoline triad. Moreover it can not be 
assumed on the one hand that the mean terra cotta images 
found here were the regular cult statues, and on the other hand 
there were no indications of a solid base capable of supporting 
three statues of marble or bronze. (2) To explain the presence 
of images of the triad in a place so unsuited to them, Mau, 
as stated above, advanced the theory that the three figures 
were merely temporary substitutes for the regular cult statues, 
and that Jupiter Optimus Maximus and his companions had 
been installed here until their own temple, which had been 
demolished by the earthquake could be rebuilt (3). 

It is now quite generally agreed that the temple of the 
Capitoline deities is to be identified with the remains situated 
on the north side of the Forum, which belong to a building 
badly damaged by earthquakes and not yet restored in 79 A. 
D. This building rose upon a podium about three meters in 
height and was reached by a long flight of steps of peculiar 
construction, so arranged that the upper ones extended nearly 
across the whole front, while the lower ones occurred only 
toward the two sides. The space intervening between these 
side steps formed a platform used by public speakers. A deep 
portico served as entrance to the cella which was richly 
adorned with columns and mosaics (4). At the rear was a 



(1) Mau, Das Capitolium und der Tempel des Zeus Milichius in Rom. 
Mitt. XI (1896) 142, 147 and Pompeji (2) 63, 189; Toutain, fctude sur les capi- 
toles provinciaux in Rapports de Vecole pratique des hautes etudes 1898-9, 28; 
Castan, Les Capitoles provinciaux du monde romain 23, 65, 105. 

(2) Mau, Rom. Mitt. XI (1896) 143. 

(3) Mau 63 ; Mau-Kelsey 66. 

(4) The form of the ancient temple is seen in a wall relief showing the 
north side of the Forum, which was discovered in the house of Caecilius Iu- • 
cundus. Mau 60 and Rom. Mitt. XV (1900) 115; Mau-Kelsey 64; Thedenat 43 
Fig. 26. 

- 244 - 



long pedestal for three images, - Jupiter in the center, Juno 
on the right and Minerva on the left, - and adjacent were three 
small rooms designed to serve the needs of these gods. 
Noteworthy was the erection of the altar on the platform rather 
than on the ground below, - a peculiarity perhaps due to the 
belief that every thing about the shrine should be elevated 
as much as possible to accord with the Roman Capitolium. (1) 
As all these details suit well the requirements of the Capitoline 
triad, and a head of Jupiter as well as an inscription mentioning 
his name appeared among the ruins, there is no doubt that 
the temple should be assigned to this cult. Its situation and 
mode of construction, which must have made it loom up 
large in the Forum, and its evident magnificence, conduce to 
the same conclusion (2). 

It is more difficult to decide whether the Capitoline triad 
was worshipped here from the time that the temple was 
erected. The age of the building itself has been variously 
estimated. According to one view it antedated the Roman 
colony and belonged to the late Oscan period, - an opinion 
that receives some support from the circumstance that it faces 
the south (3). If this date is correct, it brings to the front 
the perplexing question regarding the identity of the gods 
first honored here. The theory promulgated by Nissen, that 
the sanctuary was consecrated in the Oscan period to three 
popular Campanian deities Ceres, Liber and Libera, who were 
changed by the Romans to correspond to their own triad is 
unsupported by any evidence and has been generally 
discredited. (4) The same objection, applies to the theory 
advanced by Sogliano, that the original occupants of the 
Capitol were Jupiter, Venus and Ceres (5). If it is necessary 

(1) Mau 64; Mau-Kelsey 67. 

(2) Far accounts of the Jupiter temple see Thedenat 40-43; Nissen 
320 f. ; Overbeck-Mau, Pompeji 90 f . ; Mau 59 f . ; Mau-Kelsey 63 f . ; (with 
bibliography 518). 

(3) Overbeck-Mau 95; Mau-Kelsey 66; Nissen 367, (dated the temple 
300-100 B. C. ; more recently in Orientation 284 he fixes the date as before 80 
B. C. 

(4) Nissen 327. Cp. Overbeck-Mau 635 (38). 

(5) Sogliano, Spigolature epigrafiche in Atti Nap. XV (1890) 158 f. 

-245 - 



to admit the existence of the building a short time before the 
arrival of Roman colonists, its presence may be explained as 
the result of a Romanizing party in the city at the beginning 
of the first century B. C, when it was under Roman protection. 
This faction composed of persons interested in promoting close 
relations with Rome seems to have been influential, as is 
proved by the use of Latin in some casesi instead of Oscan 
for official documents (I). It is even conceivable that such 
a temple was constructed entirely apart from Roman influence, 
although this supposition seems less probable. It was 
undoubtedly a widely spread custom to introduce the worship 
of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva at the time a town was founded, 
but there is no indication that they were combined in worship 
in the distinctive manner that marked the Capitoline cult. (2) 
Later investigations, however, tend to advance the date 
of the building to the advent of the Roman colony. Architectural 
details which seem later than the tufa period, the uniform 
employment of the second or architectural style of wall 
decoration, and the apparent use of the Roman measures in 
laying out the work are the points in favor of this date. We 
may therefore conclude that the Capitol was a product of the 
new era. (3) 

VENUS POMPEIANA. 

Venus Herentas, the Oscan goddess, was worshipped at 
Pompeii in the earlier period, but, as suggested above, had 
probably been considerably affected by outside influences. (4) 
A new epoch began in 80 B. C. with the arrival of the Roman 

(1) C. /. L. X, 794=D. 5538; Mommsen G. I. L. X, p. 93 and note to 
No. 794; Mau, Rom. Mitt. XI (1896) 144-145. For the possibility of the presence 
of Capitols in municipalities that had not received Roman colonists see the 
discussion of the Capitol at Capua p. 366 and the references there cited. 

(2) Serv. A en. I, 442; Vitruv. I, 7, 1; Kuhfeldt, De Capitoliis imperii 
Romani 18, 77-80; Nissen, Das Templum 88, 145; Mau-Kelsey 66; Wissowa, 
Capitolium, P.-W. Ill, 1538; De Rossi e Gatti, / Campidogli nelle colonie e 
nelle altre citta del mondo romano in Boll. com. arch, di Roma 1887, 66. Cp. 
Muller-Deecke, Die Etrus\er II, 43. 

(3) Mau 61-63; Thedenat 40. 

(4) See p. 236. 

- 246 - 



colonists. These people, conducted by a nephew of Sulla, 
joined enthusiastically in the worship of Venus which the 
dictator was promoting and made her straightway the leading 
deity of the city. The colony itself was called by her name, 
and appears as Colonia Veneria Cornelia in an official document 
bearin die date of 10 B. C. (1). At this period was built 
the first shrine of which any remains have come to light. 
Martial in his poem on the destruction wrought by Vesuvius 
alludes to Pompeii under the guise of Veneris sedes, « dearer 
to her than Lacedaemon)), and Statius speaks of Venus as 
lamenting the destruction of her favored city (2). Generally 
she was called by the epithet Pompeiana but also was known 
as fisica. Besides the record of an offering made to Jupiter 
at the behest of Venus Fisica, she is cited with this tide in 
graffiti and once in an erotic inscription with the full appellation 
fisica Pompeiana (3). The combination Venus Pompeiana 
occurs in a wall painting and in graffiti (4). 

The meaning of the term fisica is still undetermined and 
there is not yet agreement as to the source from which it is 
derived. Rossbach, comparing the epithets ^potta applied to 
Leto and (poTaXjMos used in reference to Poseidon, argues for 
a derivation from Greek and this possibility is admitted by 
Marx, who, however, favors the opinion that its source is 
Oscani (5). The latter view was advanced by Preller, who 
believed that jelix derived from feo had the same signification, 
and that Venus Felix and Venus Fisica had reference alike 

(1) C. J. L. X, 787=C. /. L. I, 1252-Vagiieri 1807. A. freedman of the 
colony so designated may be the C. Venerius Epaphroditus of C. /. L. X, 1013. 
Cp. Nissen 218. The name of the goddess was applied to a bath on property 
of Iulia Felix C. /. L. IV, 1136. 

(2) Mart. IV, 44, 5: Haec Veneris sedes, Lacedaemone gratior illi. 
Stat. sil. V. 3, 164; Quos Veneri pdorata domus neglectaque tellus Alcidae.... 

(3) C. /. L. X, 928, quoted on p. 243 (3). C. /. L. IV, 26: N(umexium) 
Barcha(m) Ilu(irum) b(onum) o(ro) u(os) f(aciatis) ita uobeis Venus Pomp(eiana) 
sacra [sancta propitia sit]. C. J. L. IV, 1520. Cp. C. I. L. IV, 6865. 

(4) C. /. L. IV, 538 (wall painting); 4007 (graffito); 2457 (graffito). 

(5) Rossbach, Vier pompejanische Wandbilder in Jahrb. des deutschen 
arch. Inst. VIII (1893) 59(21); Preller-Robert 586; Marx, Ueber die Venus des 
Lucrez in Bonner Studien 123(4); Hofer, Physike (?) Roscher III, 2487; An- 
toninus Liberalis 1 7 - Mythographi Graeci II, 93. 

- 247 - 



to a Campanian goddess of fertility commonly represented as 
a mother with a child in her arms (1). Nissen too thought 
that this Venus was a native deity, who was adopted by the 
colonists as their chief god because of Sulla's well known 
interest in one of her forms (2). Although the goddess was 
depicted in wall paintings under another aspect, the difference 
was explained by the supposition that she had been already 
assimilated to Aphrodite. 

The incorrectness of this view was demonstrated by 
Wissowa in a comprehensive treatment of the forms of Venus 
common at Rome. He there shows that the Venus of Pompeii 
was a form of Venus Felix, and was due to the activity of 
the dictator Sulla in promoting the cult of his favorite deity (3). 
This Venus had attributes differing from those of other types, 
because qualities were assigned to her belonging properly to 
Felicitas and to Fortuna. Thus she is regularly depicted in 
the wall paintings as a standing figure fully clothed with tunic 
and pajlium ; she exhibits a steering-oar and a branch of olive, - 
the attributes respectively of Fortuna and Felicitas; her head 
bears a mural crowni (4). As a result of these peculiar 
characteristics scholars were long in doubt about the identity 
of the goddess represented, and there was a tendency to 
recognize here Fortuna (5). She was recognized as Venus 
only when she was found in paintings in the company of the 
eleven other major Olympian gods (6). On coins of Sulla, 

(1) Preller-Jordan I, 448. 

(2) Nissen 328, 343. 

(3) Wissowa. De Veneris simulacris Romanis in Gesammelte 'Abhand- 
lungen 18. Rel und Kult (2) 291 ; and Rom. Gotterbilder in Neue Jahrb. fiir 
das Klass. AUert. I (1898) 170; Ges. Abh. 294; Sechan, Venus, D.-3. V, 
734 (26). 

(4) Helbig, Wandgemdlde Nos. 7, 60, 65, 66, 295, 296, 1479. Cp. Furt- 
wangler, Anti\e Gemmen PI. 44, No. 85; Gerhard, Gesammelte Abhandlungen 
PI. LI, 12. 

.(5) Schulz, Rappresentazioni della Fortuna in Ann. Inst. XI, (1839) 
101 f . ; Cp. Brizio. 11 culto della Venus Fisica in Giornale degli Scavi di P. 
1 (1868-9) 187 f . ; Garrucci, Questioni pompeiane 70; Jahn, Ueber die puteo- 
lanische Basis in Ber. der sacks. Gesell. der Wiss, III (1851) 132. 

(6) Gerhard, Ann. Inst. XXII (1850) 210; Conze, Arch. Zeit. XIX. 
(1861) 184; Jahn, Ber. der sacks. Gesell. der Wiss. XIII (1861) 341 (188); Marx, 

-248 - 



however, the head of Venus with a diadem is portrayed in 
a manner to suggest a clothed deity, and there seems no reason 
to question the substantial identity of the two forms of the 
goddess (I). Both likewise show the same relation to the 
Aphrodite type as a result of the presence of Cupid in the 
representations . 

The presence of the mural crown upon the Pompeian 
goddess is explained by Wissowa as an innovation in her 
attributes to signify that she was the special protectress of the 
city, and there is no doubt that she did become its tutelary 
deity, holding the same position that the Genius occupied in 
other towns, but including in her personality a much wider 
range of attributes (2). 

Several attempts have been made to connect the Venus 
Pompeiana with the Orient. Marx sees a close relation between 
her and the Aphrodite of Aphrodisias in Caria, from whom 
he thinks that Sulla's goddess was chiefly derived. This deity 
was the one to whom that leader was referred by the oracle 
after he had recounted his dream of victory (3). Hence 
nothing would have, been more natural for the dictator than 
a revision of his conception of Venus in harmony with the 
aspects presented by that goddess. But actual traces of such 
an influence do not appear, and the traits common to the Venus 
of Pompeii and the Sullan Venus seen on coins have no place 
in the likenesses of the goddess of Caria (4). 

Graillot from the evidence of a fresco asserts that she 
was an Oriental and as such was served by a company of 
dendrophori. The fresco represents a religious procession in 
which four men carry in state a Phrygian bonnet, while others 

Bonner Studien 122; Helbig op. cit. 5 No. 7 ; Ann. Inst. XXII, (1850) PI. K.A 
similar painting of the twelve gods was discovered in 1911, and shows Venus 
in like guise, Delia Corte, N. S. 1911, 418 f. 

(1) Babelon, Monn. re>. rom. 406, No. 28; Wissowa, Ges. Abhandl. 

18-19. 

(2) Wissowa, op. cit. 21. 

(3) Appian, b. civ. 1, 97; Marx, Der Dichter Lucretius in Neue 
Jahrb. fur das klass. Altert. Ill (1899) 542 f. and Bonner Studien 125; Fredrich, 
Die Aphrodite von Aphrodisias in Karien in Ath. Mitth. XXII (1897) 378. 

(4) Fredrich, op. cit. 365 f. and Pis. XI, XII ; Marx, Neue Jahrb. fur 
das k!«*s. Altert. Ill (1899) 543 Fig. 1. 

- 249 - 



bear a throne upon which rests a crown (I). The evidence 
here is inconclusive for proving that processions of an Oriental 
character were held in honor of Venus because the scene in 
question might be an attempt to reproduce a ceremony of the 
cult of Magna Mater, who was worshipped a great deal in 
Campania, if not at Pompeii itself. Another fresco, however, 
dealing with a similar theme has been regarded as an allusion 
to the Pompeian Venus (2). Here the divinity herself is 
borne by elephants and thus there is a strong indication of 
Oriental influence. But the appearance of the elephants has 
been plausibly explained by Pais as the reminiscence of a 
definite historical event, - the triumph of Pompey, in 79 B. C. 
when the victorious general rode on a chariot drawn by these 
animals (3). Here the people of Pompeii showed their 
respect for Sulla by representing Fortuna and Felicitas in the 
company of Venus, yet at the same time showed their faith 
in the approaching ascendancy of Pompey by exhibiting the 
guardian deity of their city in such a way as to recall his 
triumph. 

As the Venus Pompeiana differed from the other Venuses 
in the form by which she was portrayed, so she exhibited 
other qualities and characteristics not commofriry belonging 
to this goddess. According to an earlier view, which has nothing 
to commend it, Venus was identical with the old goddess 
Libera who seems to have been important in Campania (4). 
Her emblems suggest that she possessed the customary 
attributes of Fortuna and Felicitas, and Sulla considered her 
chiefly as a divinity who had influence over the destiny of 
mankind. Thus she was by no means simply an Aphrodite or 
goddess of love, but embraced this as one of her spheres of 
influence, as is demonstrated by graffiti and the presence of 
Amor in paintings. In the former the Latin form Venus 

(J) Graillot, Le culte de Cybele 134 (5), 328, 433 (2). 

(2) Delia Corte, N. 5. 1912, 176 f. and Fig. 2; Macchioro, Neapolis I 
(1913) 105. 

(3) Pais, Venere Pompeiana trionfante su di un cocchio tirato da e'le- 
fanti in Atti Nap. n. s. II (1913) 255 f . ; Pint. Pomp. 14; Plin. nat. VHI 4; 
Granius Licinianus XXXVI. 

(4) Nissen, Pomp. Studien 328. 

- 250 - 



predominates, sometimes with the full name Venus Pompeiana, 
but several times the Greek equivalent occurs (I). In some 
cases she was invoked as the patron and promoter of domestic 
harmony, and was looked upon as a goddess who presided 
over and regulated marriage (2). This attitude is in accord 
with her representations in the form of a matron with a long 
robe. Her dominion over nature was absolute and she was 
a powerful deity whose wrath was dreadful to incur (3). 

Besides being on friendly terms with Jupiter, as indicated 
above, Venus appears to have had extremely intimate relations 
with Ceres (4); in fact one priestess sometimes served both, - 
a condition of affairs which is proved by the example of a 
certain Alleia, who is thought to have been the daughter of a 
distinguished citizen, Cn. Alleius Nigidius Maius, who in 
gladiatorial programs is called princeps coloniae. This woman 
was not the same as the Alleia Decimilla already cited as a 
priestess of Ceres (5). The double priesthood found here 
is no novelty in southern Italy, as the same combination is 
cited also from Surrentum, Casinum, and Sulmo (6). Wissowa 
thinks that the union of the two cults is to be explained by 
the fact that the Ceres cult, originally of first rate importance, 
gradually declined after the advent of the Venus Pompeiana, 
with the apparent implication that the public priestesses of 
Ceres no longer had much to do in this cult and now gave 
most of their attention to Venus (7). But, although Ceres 
was of less importance in this community than Venus, she 
was by no means obscure, nor was her priesthood always 

(1) Aphrodite: C. /. L. IV, 1589, 2096, 2411a. Cp. 4169; Venus: C. /. L. 
IV, 1536, 1625, 1410, 1839, 1921, 1985, 2483, 4200. Mau-Kelsey 496. 

(2) C. /. L. IV, 2457. 

(3) C. 1. L. IV, 538; Wissowa, Gesam. Abhandl. 18; Brizio op. cit. 
219 f.; Nissen 329; Mau 11 ; Marx, Bonner Studien 124. 

(4) See pp. 231, 242. 

(5) /V. 5. 1890, 333: Ajlleia Mai f sacerd(os) V(eneri)s et Ce- 

rer[is sibji ex dec. deer, pe Sogliano, Spigolature epigrafiche in Atti 

Nap. XV (1890) 159. C. I.L. IV, 1177; N. S. 1913, 479, Rev. Arch. XXIV (1914) 
379, No. 280. 

(6) C. /. L. X, 680, 688, 5191 ; IX, 3087, 3089 (?). Pestalozza e Chiesa, 
Ceres, Ruggiero II, 208. See p. 310. 

(7) Wissowa, Gesam. Abhandl. 23 (5). 

-251 - 



combined with that of the latter. There were certain women 
who gave their attendance exclusively to Ceres as late as the 
epoch of the Empire, for if they had been priestesses of Venus 
too, they would not have omitted to mention her in their records 
as the more important divinity (1). But, while the same person 
sometimes served both deities, this condition of affairs did not 
always prevail. 

Priestesses of Venus are doubtless meant by the term 
sacerdos publico, without any supplementary allusion to a 
particular god. In the first place, this cult because of its 
importance would not be without officials appointed by the 
legally constituted authorities and responsible to them; again 
the absence of any specific designation would be missed less 
in connection with Venus than with any other deity. This 
class of inscriptions has left a number of examples. Several 
copies refer to the noted Eumachia, who in the first half of 
the first century A. D. improved the Forum by the erection of 
a building of uncertain purpose upon the eastern side (2). 
It is noteworthy that, although she is mentioned four times in 
the extant material, she is called uniformly simply sacerdos 
publica. Other women of prominent family who held the same 
position were Mamia assigned to the era of Augustus, Holconia, 
and Istacidia Rufilla; as the records show, they not infrequently 
received the honor of burial on public land (3). 

An association of persons interested in the worship 
received the name of Venerii in the same way that devotees 
of Isis were called Isiaci. They are mentioned once in a wall 
inscription as partisans of a candidate for the duumvirate (4). 

The temple of Apollo was long regarded as having belonged 

(1) See p. 231. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 810=0. 3785=Vaglieri 1862, 811, 812, 813 = D. 6368. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 816=Vaglieri 1065: Mamia P. f. sacerdos publica Geni[o 
Aug. /sjolo et pecunia sua: X, 998 = D. 6369: Mamiae P. f. sacerdoti publicae, 
locus sepultur. datus decurionum decreto: X, 950 = Vaglieri 1863: Holconiae M. 
f. sacerdoti publicae: X, 999=0. 6370: Istalcidia N. f. Rufilla sacerd. publica; 
Nissen, 328, 373. 

(4) C. /. L. IV, 1146; Waking, Les corporations professionnettes chez 
les Romains I, 170; Liebenam, Zur Geschichte und Organisation des rom. Ver- 
einwesens 35 ; Nissen 355. 

- 252 - 



to Venus, but a more probable identification is the shrine whose 
scanty remains began to be investigated in 1898 on the Strada 
della Marina southwest of the Forum (1). Nissen dates this 
building in the Oscan period, because it was laid out to face 
the south, but Mau places it at the beginning of the Roman 
period as one of the first enterprises of the colonists (2). The 
original building was a modest structure of ordinary masonry 
covered with stucco, and in the Imperial period seemed mean 
and out of date. Accordingly a new structure of marble was 
erected in its place, - an edifice of the Etruscan type with a 
deep portico in front of the cella, and the court which had 
enclosed the first sanctuary was enlarged. But during the 
building of this colonnade occurred the earthquake of 63, 
which overthrew the entire structure and rendered necessary 
another rebuilding. Nothing daunted by this disaster the 
Pompeians were in the act of erecting a still more sumptuous 
temple for their favorite goddess, when the eruption of 79 
ended their efforts forever (3). 

In the ruins were found a portion of a statue belonging to 
the Aphrodite rather than to the Venus Pompeiana type, and 
a bronze oar which had probably been consecrated to the same 
divinity (4). The location of the shrine too and its evident 
magnificence tend to establish the identification. Mau calls 
attention to the appropriateness of this site for Venus, as it 
is on a hill overlooking the sea; although she was not primarily 
a marine deity at Pompeii, an oversight of the sea may have 
been considered one of her functions as in the case of other 
Venuses. Mau also suggests that since the view was obstructed 



(1) In the publication of excavations in the Notizie degli scavi (1899, 
17 and 1900, 27) the temple is attribued to Augustus. Another theory connected 
Venus with the Greek temple on the arx. Nissen 330. 

(2) Nissen, Orientation 285; Mau 120 and Der Tempel der Venus Pom- 
peiana in Rom. Mitt. XV (1900) 304. 

(3) Mau 120 f., and Rom. Mitt. XV (1900) 270 f . ; Mau-Keisey 124 f . ; 
Thedenat 65. The latter believes that there was but one completed temple, 
that this was torn down by the Pompeians just before 63 A. D., and that they 
were engaged on the first rebuilding in 79. 

(4) Sogliano, N. S. 1898, 333, Fig. 3 and N. S. 1899, 294; Mau, Rom. 
Mitt. XV (1900) 307. 

-253 - 



by the surrounding colonnade, this enclosure was provided 
with suitable openings. But absolute consistency in such a 
matter is not to be expected (1). 

The influence of Venus is very noticeable in private life 
as represented by wall paintings. Depicted in the manner 
already described, she appears in some of the leading houses 
of the town such as those of Pansa (Cn. Alleius Nigidius Maius), 
the Dioscuri, the Tragic Poet and the Labyrinth (2). On the 
other hand, sculptured reliefs of the Pompeian Venus have 
been generally wanting. A recent discovery, however, shows 
a solitary example of this kind in which she is portrayed at 
the entrance of a cave (3). 

MARS. 

The age of the cult of Mars is not known. Other Campanian 
cities as notably Capua had temples of this god at a 
comparatively early date, and there is no reason for denying 
to Pompeii a cult before the Roman colonization (4). But 
there is no evidence for this period, and in the form in which 
the cult first appears, organized under the supervision of 
flamens, it is to be regarded as a product of the later epoch. 
One of these officials, a decurion M. Lucretius, is named in a 
wall inscription which assumes the form of an address upon 
a letter directed to him. The word flamen also occurs in a 
graffito with the name Macro (5). This information is valuable 
because of the paucity of allusions to this office in the 
municipalities, where, however, it was regarded as an important 
position (6). The god's name is seen also in graffiti. His 
shrine has not been discovered, but it may have stood outside 
the walls in agreement with the precepts of Vitruvius, that 
temples of Mars should not be located within a town (7). 

(1) Mau loc. cit. 

(2) Thedenat 64; Mau 278. See p. 248. 

(3) Sogliano, N. S. 1907, 559, Fig. 9. 

(4) See p. 242. 

(5) C. /. L. IV, 879: M. Lucretio flam. Martis decurioni Pompei(s). 
C. /. L. IV, 2923; Jullian, Flamen, D.-S. II, 1173. 

(6) Cp. p. 206. 

(7) C. J. L. IV, 1644, 4016. Vitruv. 1, 7, 1. 

- 254 - 



• VESTA. 

Vesta, who had a place in the worship of the family, was 
in particular the patron deity of the bakers. Her likeness, 
appearing between those of the Lares, was frequently portrayed 
on the walls of bakeries and kitchens either alone or in company 
with other deities especially Vulcan (I). She bears a scepter 
and a patera, and in the bakeries regularly and sometimes 
elsewhere is accompanied by the ass, which was regarded as 
under hex protection (2). for two waH paintings is portrayed 
a representation of the Vestalia celebrated by the bakers, 
where the place of the latter is taken by Cupids (3). A similar 
figure regularly appearing with the Lares in household shrines, 
which Preuner identified as Vesta, is now regarded as a 
Genius (4). 

GENIUS AND LARES. 

Several indications have been found pointing to the worship 
of a Genius associated with a particular spot. Thus a small 
shrine near one of the entrances to the Macellum, consisting 
of a niche below which are painted two serpents, has been 
supposed to be consecrated to the Genius that presided over 
this building (5). 

Street shrines for the worship of the Lares Compitales, 
which were present at Pompeii in great numbers, exhibit a 

(1) Helbig 61-65, 66b, 68; Sogliano, he piiture murali campane 34, 
35, 42, 43 (?). 

(2) Reifferscheid, De Lamm picturis Pompeianis in Ann. Inst. XXXV 
(1863) 126 f. ; Jordan, Vesta und die Laren in Winkelmannfest Programm No. 
25 (1865) 1 f. ; Wissowa, Monumenia ad religionem Romanam spectantia tria 
n Ann Inst. LV (1883) 160; Gesamm. Abh. 68; Hild, Vesta, D.-S. V, 752; 
Preuner, Hestia-Vesta 243. 

(3) Jahn. Walker-und Mullerfeste in Arch. Zeit XII (1854) 192 and 
DarsieUungen antiker Reliefs in Ber. der sacks. Gesells. der Wiss. XIII (1861) 
341; Museo Borbonico VI, 51; Helbig 777; Sogliano, Man. Ant. VIII, 354 
Fig. 53; Ma*o. Rom. Mitt XI (1896) 80 and Pompeji (2) 354 Fig. 186; Mau- 
Kelsey 97-98. 

(4) Preuner, op. cit. 237; Jordan op. ctf. 14 Cp. p. 6. 
(t) Mau-Kelsey 101 ; Mau 97. 

-255 - 



large variety of forms. On the west side of the Strada Stabiana 
not far from the Strada delY Abbondanza is a small chapel 
containing a bench and a long altar, divided into two 
compartments for the worship of the Lares and the Genius. A 
niche in the wall served as a receptacle for their images. 
Another chapel with niches and a block of limestone for an 
altar may be seen in the Strada di Mercxxrio. More often these 
gods were served by open air altars either large or small. At 
the northwestern corner of the Strada Stabiana and the Strada 
di Nola between the fountain and the water tower still 
stands a large altar, and on the wall behind it is a painting, 
which comprises an altar, the two Lares, worshippers, and a 
flute player. At other times a small altar affixed to a wall or a 
modest niche for offerings sufficed. The presence of the Genius 
of the place is ordinarily denoted by two serpents. In spite of 
the fact that Augustus ordered the inclusion of his cult witH 
that of the Lares Compltales. no representations of his Genius 
have been found in the paintings attached to the street 
shrines (1). 

The cult of the Compitales in the provincial towns Was 
subject to the same reorganization that it received at Rome. 
It was in the hands of the uicorum magistri, belonging generally 
to the class of freedmen, who were assisted by collegia of 
slaves (2). A mutilated list of officials called magistri uici et 
compiti has been preserved from the years 47 and 46 B. C, 
when the old conditions prevailed. Likewise two magistri 
probably belonging to the same class have left a record of a 
gift m|ade to the Lares Familiares (3). A mutilated list of 
slaves has recently been discovered. At a compitum or corner 
shrine excavated in 1911 another of these bodies with a 

(1) Mau 238-241; Mau-Kelsey 233-236; Overbeck-Mau 242-244. Wail 
paintings dealing with Lares and Genius are listed by Helbig Nos. 31 f. and 
by Sogliano Nos. 9 f. 

(2) Jordan, De Genii et Eponae picturis Pompeianis in Ann. Inst. 
XL1V (1872) 28; Mourlot, U Augustaliti dans Y empire romain 32; Hild, Lares 
D.-S. Ill, 940; Wissowa, Lares, Roscher II, 1875 and Rel. und Kult. (2) 171 f . ; 
Saglio, Compitum, D.-S. I, 1430; Mommsen, Rom. Staatsrecht II (3) 1036. 

(3) N. S. 1908, 369: Felix et Dorus mag(istri) L(aribus) F(amiliaribus) 
d. d. C. /. L. IV, 60; Wissowa, Lares, Roscher II, 1875. 

-256- 



membership of four has left traces of its activity (I). This 
number occurs also at Caudium and Pisaurum and in an 
uncertain inscription included among those assigned to Puteoli, 
but collegia with 1 a different number of members are cited 
elsewhere. (2) On an adjacent house wall, where sacred 
subjects were delineated, three men during their term of office 
caused a picture to be painted to which they attached their 
names. Here a priest surrounded by attendants may represent 
the magister and his assistant ministri. The work of these slaves 
is dated by De Petra in the closing years of the history of the 
city. (3) A number of wall paintings refer to the sacrifices 
offered by the magistri, who are generally supposed to be 
represented by four toga clad figures that sometimes appear 
in the picture. (4) 

The Lares and the Genius along with the Penates were 
also venerated habitually in the different households. Here the 
Penates represented the powers that had the stores of provisions 
under their protection, the Lares, regularly two in number, 
were beneficent spirits guiding the destinies of the house, the 
Genius was the spiritual representative of the household's 
master. They were honored with offerings of incense, fruit, 
flowers, cake and the like, but sometimes a pig was sacrificed 
to the Lares. (5) These too occasionally received special 
sacrifices in fulfilment of vows. So the banker L. Caecilius 
Iucundus offered a bull to commemorate his escape from the 
falling temple of Jupiter Capitolinus in 63 A. D., and represented 
the scene in relief in his Lararium A similar votive sculpture 
preserves the remembrance of a felicitous escape from the 
falling Porta di Vesuvio. (6) The shrines of the household 
Lares did not differ materially from those consecrated to the 

(!) N. 5. 1915, 284; N. S. 1915, 421-422. This is one of the most inter- 
esting Compita yet discovered. In his commentary Delia Corte compares the 
ancient Compitalia to popular religious festivals celebrated in modern Naples. 

(2) Wissowa 173; C. /. L. IX, 6293, XI, 6367, X, 1582. 

(3) Delia Corte, N. 5. 1911, 421. 

(4) Helbig 13, Nos. 41, 42. 

(5) Hild, Lares, D.-S. Ill, 943; De Marchi, II culto private di Roma an- 
ilea I, 55 f. ; Preller-Jordan II, 103 f. ; Mau-Kelsey 268 f. ; Mau 275 f. 

(6) Thedenat, Pompei vie privee 69-70. 

-257 - 

17 



gods of the cross roads, and hence exhibit various degrees of 
elaboration. In extensive establishments a separate chapel 
might be devoted to their worship as in the Casa del Centenario, 
but this was of rare occurrence. (1) More often a little shrine 
constructed after the model of a remple was attached to the 
wall of the atrium or garden as in the houses of Epidius 
Sabinus, the Conte di Torino, and the Tragic Poet. Sometime; 
a niche in the wall with an altar beneath was accompanied by 
images and painting; sometimes a wall painting exhibiting 
altar and deities fulfilled all requirements. (2) Tradition tended 
to restrict the Lararium to the atrium and its retention there 
may be accounted a mark of conservatism. According to the 
newer fashion it was moved into the kitchen, where it is found 
in the majority of instances. (3) 

At Pompeii the Lares always appear in pairs in the guise 
of youths dressed in a short tunic; one hand, raised aloft, 
bears a drinking horn from which a stream of liquor falls into 
a patera held in the other. In other words they bear witness to a 
revised form of the cult and indicate that the two Lares of the 
cross roads had now become regular in the household. (4) 
The Genius is ordinarily represented by a standing figure clad 
in a toga, and shows the face of the master of the house. One 
or two serpents complete the picture below. (5) Other goda 

(1) De Marchi, op. cit. I, 83, 87. 

(2) Reproductions of the more elaborate Lararia are found in The- 
den at, Pompei vie privee 69, Fig. 36, and 67, Fig. 34; in Mau 277, Figs. 142, 
143; Spano, N. S. 1911, 333, Fig. 2; Hild, D.-S. Ill, 949; De Marchi, op, cit. 
Pis. II, III, V. For the Lares expressed by painting see JDe Marchi I, 91, by 
sculpture I, 104, and cp. 1, 79. 

(3) De Marchi I, 82 f . ; Thedenat 67; Spano N. S. 1911, 334; Mau 
311; Mau-Kelsey 297; Preller-Jordan II, 116 (3); Hild, D.-S. Ill, 942. A list of 
the various parts of the house in which Lararia have been found appears in 
De Marchi I, 82. 

(4) Jordan, De Genii et Eponae picturis Pompeianis in Ann. Inst. 
XLIV (1872) 37 f . ; De Marchi I, 45; Wissowa, Lares, Roscher II 1882-1883. 
Cp. however, Wissowa, ibid. 1886 for the possibility of an early form of the 
Lares cult in southern Italy in which they were regularly worshipped in the 
plural. 

(5) Jordan, op. cit. 29 and Vesta und die Daren in Winckelmannjesf 
Programm, No. 25 (1865) 6; De Marchi I, 70, 77 f. The paintings exhibiting ser- 
pents furnish a good commentary to Verg. i4en. V, 90. 

- 258 - 



to whom the household was devoted were represented by images 
or paintings, and practically all the great gods have left traces 
of their cult at domestic shrines. Sometimes the Genius of the 
Emperor took the place of the head of the house or was added 
as an additional Genius. (I) Thus a wall painting shows two 
Genii in the act of sacrifice, one of whom is probably that of 
the master of the house while the other refers to the Emperor. 
Beneath the latter appears the formula ex s. c, - in accordance 
with a decree of the senate. This was interpreted by Mau in 
connection with an order of that body issued after the defeat 
of Mark Antony at Antium, whereby all persons in private 
as well as in public worship were commanded to offer libations 
to Augustus. (2) 

The habitual representation of the Genius between the 
two Lares, thus giving rise to a total of three gods, may be the 
subject of an allusion in a graffito which contains the words 
deos tuos tres. Zangemeister, comparing certain sculptures 
containing the figures of Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto, was 
inclined to see here a reference to those gods, but this 
explanation is impossible. On the other hand the vagueness 
with which the Lares and Genius were conceived and their 
constant representation together makes it easier to suppose 
that they were meant by the writer of the obscure graffito. (3) 

These gods are also mentioned by name in several brief 
inscriptions. In the house of Epidius Rufus two freedmen 
made a dedication to their patron's Genius along with the 
Lares; another reads simply Genio et Lartbtts. Likewise a 
Hbertinus Felix has left an inscription honoring the Genius of 
his former master, the well known banker L. Caecilius 
Iucundus. (4) A bronze object found in a shop records the 

(1) De Marchi, 11 culto privato 1, 75. 

(2) Mau, Rom. Mitt. V (1890) 244 and Pompeji (2) 278; Mau-Kelsey 
270; De Marchi I, 94. Cp. Sogliano, N. S. 1891, 258; Dio Cassius LI, 19, 7. 

(3) C. /. L. IV, 1679: Inuicte Castres habeas propitios deos tuos 

tres ite{m) et qui leges Calos Edone. Valeat qui legerit. Zangemeister, Bull. 
Inst. 1867 88 (1); De Marchi // culto privato I, 69; Wissowa, Lares, Roscher 
II 1884. 

(4) C. I. L. X, 861 ; Belbig 59b: Genio M. n(ostri) ©t Laribus duo Dia- 
dumeni liberti: C. /. L. X, 1235; X, 860: Genio L. nostri Felix II. Cp. Wissowa 
Lares Roscher II, 1883. 

- 259 - 



dedication made to the family Lares by two magistri cited 
above; similarly expressed is a dedication made by a certain 
freedman Philoxenus upon a scale weight. A wall painting of 
altar and serpents is accompanied by the title Lares 
propitios. (1) Finally both Lares and Genius recur in 
graffiti. (2) 

A building on the eastern side of the Forum has been 
identified by Mau as a chapel for the public cult of the Lares 
of the whole city and the Genius of the Emperor. (3) Although 
there is no definite proof for this assignment, it suits the 
circumstances better than the theories previously suggested. (4) 
The building consisted of a main room with an apse in the 
back for the cult statues, and wings at the sides as well as a 
number of niches afforded room for others whose identity is 
altogether uncertain. Mau conjectured that the side rooms were 
consecrated to Venus and Ceres. (5) The building is a product 
of the Imperial period, and doubtless resulted from the reform 
of the cult of the Lares initiated by Augustus. It would be dated 
therefore not long after 7 B. C. when the reorganization took 
place. (6) No certain epigraphical material records the worship 
of his Genius, but a mutilated inscription due to the public 
priestess Mamia, who flourished during his reign may belong 
to this cult. (7) 



(1) N. S. 1908, 369; 8067 (12): Philoxenus 1. aed(ituus) L{aribus) fam- 
(iliaribus) d. d. C. /. L. IV, 844, See p. 256 (3). 
(3) C. /. L. IV, 1539, 4198. N. S. 1913, 190. 

(3) Mau, Der stddtische Larentempel in Pompeji in Rom. Mitt. XI 
(1876) 285-301. According to Nissen it was located with reference to the rising 
sun on May 1, the date of the festival of the Lares Praestites and the Genius 
Augusti, Pomp. Studien 272 and Orientation 286. Cp. Wissowa, Lares, Ro- 
scher II, 1871 ; Hild, D.-S. Ill, 946. 

(4) Nissen, Pomp. Studien 303 f . ; Overbeck-Mau 131; Breton, Pompeia 
(3) 131. 

(5) Mau 100. 

(6) Thedenat I, 52-53; Mau-Kelsey 102 f. (with bibliography 521); Mau 
98 f . ; Nissen, Orientation 286. Cp. Heinen, Zur Begriindung des rom. Kaiser- 
kultes in Klio XI (1911) 175. 

(7) C. /. L. X, 816. See above p. 252 (3). This fragment, which was 
found among the ruins of the temple of Vespasian, was used to attribute 
it to Augustus. 

-260 - 



THE CULT OF THE EMPERORS. 

The examination of the cult of the Lares has shown how- 
it was modified by that of Augustus, and the same tendency 
occurred in other instances, where no definite measures were 
taken by the Emperor to promote a reform. The cult of Fortuna, 
developing under the influence of the times into that of Fortuna 
Augusta, was served by a board of ministri beginning with 
the year 3 A. D. (1) It is the oldest example of this kind of 
Emperor worship, which was carried on less in Italy than in 
the provinces, particularly Illyricum and Africa. (2) Four 
other inscriptions bear witness to the activity of the collegium, 
two of which can be assigned respectively to the years 45 and 
56 A. D. This board, which was called officially the ministri 
Fortunae Augustae, was composed of both freedmen and slaves; 
it consisted normally of four members, but apparently was 
not always recruited to its full strength. (3) llie greater part 
of the inscriptions show a uniform significance and commemorate 
the public service performed at the instance of the city 
authorities. This consisted of the setting up yearly of a small 
statue, as provided by a regulation made by the ministri 
themselves. On one occasion, for some reason the matter fell 
to the lot of one of the members, and he with their consent 
substituted two marble pedestals in the place of the image he 
was expected to provide. The inscription which records this 
event preserves the name of a quaestor of the collegium (4) . 

(1) There is little evidence for a cult of Fortuna alone. The name 
occurs in a graffito and the figure of the goddess is seen in a painting found 
in 1899 north of Pompeii. C. /. L. IV, 5371 ; N. S. 1899, 494. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 824 = D. 6382: Agathemerus Vetti, Suauis Caesiae Pri- 
mae, Pothus Numitori, Anteros Lacutulani minist. prim. Fortun. Aug. iuss. 
M. Stai Run, Cn. Melissaei d. u. i. d. etc. Otto, Fortuna, P.-W. VII, 37; Brec- 
cia Fortuna, Ruggiero III, 189; Nissen, Pomp. Studien 183. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 825 = D.6385=Vaglieri 1873; X, 826=0. 6383 == Vaglieri 1826; 
X, 827 = D. 6384 = Vaglieri 1816; X, 828 a fragment. 

(4) C. L L. X, 825: Tauro Statilio, Ti. Platilio (sic) Aelian. cos. L. 
Statius Faustus pro signo, quod e lege Fortunae Augustae ministrorum ponere 
debebat, referente Q. Pompeio Amethysto quaestore, basis duas marmoreas 
decreuerunt pro signo poneret. Cp. Otto, loc. cit.; Mau 131-2; Mommsen, 
C. /. L. X, p. 100. 

- 261 - 



The seat of this cult was a temple located due north of the 
Forum at the intersection of the Strada del Foro and the Strada 
di Nola. It was a small sanctuary with a portico of Corinthian 
columns in form not unlike that of the Capitoline Jupiter. The 
cella contained niches for four ornamental statues as well as 
the cult image, which stood in a recess in the rear. (I) The 
building bore an inscription stating that it had been built at 
the cost of a distinguished citizen M. Tullius, and was considered 
at the first as a purely private enterprise like the temple of 
Augustus at Puteoli. (2) Nissen dates it in the second decade 
before the Christian era, connecting its foundation with the 
introduction of the festival of Fortuna Redux in 19 B. C. It 
belongs in fact to the third group of Pompeian temples 
classified by him, and faces the west, - a circumstance adduced 
in favor of a late date. He further calls attention to the fact 
that the builder was an augur, who would be familiar with the 
principles of correct orientation and likely to observe them. (3) 
Mau on the other hand believed that the temple wets constructed 
about the time of the institution of the ministri. (4) It is 
more probable, however, that it had already been in existence 
for some years as the seat of a semi-private cult, and that the 
advent of the ministri marks the growing importance of 
Emperor worship, as it became more and miore a public 
affair. Some of the inscriptions relating to the ministri were 
found here but this was not their original place. (5) 

A second abstract deity associated with the fortunes of the 
Imperial household was Concordia, a designation adopted to 
honor the empresses and princesses of the ruling family. At 
Pompeii the public priestess Eumachia in her own name and 
that of her son provided the means for the erection of an 

(1) Thedenat, Pompei vie publique 66-67; Nissen Pomp. Studien 178 
f. Mau 129 f. and Der Tempel der Fortuna Augusta in Pompeji in Rom. Mitt. 
XI (1896) 269 f.; Mau-JCelsey 130 f . ; Nicolini, Pompei, I, part 1. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 820; Vaglieri 1849: M. Tullius M. f. d. u. i. d. ter. 
quinq. augur, tr. niil. a pop. aedem Fortunae August, solo et peq. sua. Nissen, 
Pomp. Studien 182. 

(3) Nissen, Orientation 285. 

(4) Mau 132 and. Rom. Mitt. XI (1896) 269, 283. 

(5) Mau 132. 

- 262 - 



important building bordering the Forum, which she dedicated 
to Concordia Augusta and Fietas. (1) The time in general 
is shown by the fact that the son of Eumachia, Numistrius 
Front o, is named as a duouir in 3 A. D. In this inscription 
Nissen rightly saw an allusion to the harmonious feelings 
prevailing in the Imperial household and to the filial affection 
of the Emperor, but incorrectly supposed that Nero and 
Agrippina were meant. (2) Later researches have demonstrated 
that the wall paintings of the building are somewhat earlier 
than Nero's reign, while the sentiment of the allusion suits 
the relations between Tiberius and his mother during the first 
part of his rule. It is dated by Mau at 22 A. D. or earlier; at 
that time the Roman senate voted an altar to Pietas Augusta, - 
an event followed in the next year by the use of Li via 's likeness 
and the legend Pietas on the coins of her grandson Drusus. (3) 
The statue of Concordia Augusta, which was discovered in a 
headless condition among the ruins of the building of Eumachia, 
probably showed a resemblance to the Empress. (4) 

A close relation existed between the cult of Augustus and 
that of Mercury and Maia, but its exact nature is uncertain. (5) 
A considerable body of inscriptions record the work of an annual 
board of ministri, whose official designation changed in the 
course of time. Like the servants of Fortuna Augusta they 
were ordinarily four in number and might be either slaves or 
freedmen; their activity is represented by notices of religious 
import pertaining to the dedications which they made at the 



(!) C. /. L. X, 810, Vagiieri 1862: Eumachia L. f. sacerd. publ. 
nomine suo et M. Numistri Frontonis fili, calcidicum, cryptam, porticus Con- 
cordiae Augustae Pietati sua pequnia fecit aedemque dedicauit. C. /. L. X, 
811 a fragment; X, 892. For a list of the chief shrines in Italy and the most 
important centers of the cult elsewhere see Aust, Concordia, P.-W. IV, 833; 
Peter, Concordia, Roscher I, 921. 

(2) Nissen, Pomp. Studien 290 f. 

(3) Mau 107-108 and Osservazioni sull' edificio ^ti Eumachia in Pornpei 
m Rom. Mitt. VII (1892) 116; Wissowa, Pietas, Roscher III 2503; C. /. L. VI, 
562; Mau-Kelsey 111 Cp. Sallet, Zeits. fur Numis. VI (1879) 61. 

(4) Fiorelli, Pompeianarum antiquitatum historia I, 210; Mau 108; Nissen, 
Pomp. Studien 290. 

(5) See pp. 264. 384. 

- 263 - 



instance of the two classes of duouiri. These records show a 
stereotyped form of expression. 

The earliest, extant inscriptions are two belonging to the 
year 14 B. C, while a still older one of the year 25 B. C. is 
partly preserved in a later copy. In the latter case P. Stallius 
Agatho, one of these men, is called simply minister; in the 
former M. Sittius Papia, who made a dedication to Mercury 
and Maia preserved in two copies, is not formally designated 
by the name of his office. (1) A fourth inscription exhibiting 
three names, and a fifth with a complete roster of ministri exist 
only in fragmentary form and are undatable. (2) Both prove 
that these officials had a strong interest in the promotion of the 
cult of Mercury and Maia, but the common mode of expression, 
ministri Merc. Mai does not show clearly their relation to it. 
The opinion expressed by Mommsen and until recently 
generally accepted, supposed that the board of ministri was 
directly in charge of the worship of those deities and from 
them took its name. (3) But Bormann maintains that the 
names of the deities are not in the genitive case but in the 
dative, and that they were officials connected with a pagus 
or a part of the city who made offerings to Mercury and 
Maia. (4) This is more likely the nature of their relation to 
the divinities in question. 

The ministri, whatever may have been their exact status 
originally, were affected by the ever increasing tendency to 
make all forms of worship redound to the glory of the Emperor. 
They were now called ministri Augusti and plainly devoted 
themselves to the promotion of his worship, but sometimes 

(1) C. L. /. X, 885, Vagiieri 1160; C. 7. L. X, 886; D. 6389; C. /. L. X, 
884, D. 6388. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 887; N. S. 1895, 215, D. 3207. A fragment X, 889 seems 
to be of similar import. 

(3) Mommsen, C. /. L. X, p. 109; Heinen, Zur Begriindung des rom. 
Kaiserkultea in Klio XI (1911) 150 (3); Krall, Wiener Studien V (1883) 315 (1); 
Steuding, Mercurius, Roscher II , 2817-18; Mau 84; Vagiieri, Sylloge epigraphica 
p. 144; Mourlot, L'Augustalite* dans V empire romain 65 (6); L. Taylor, Angus- 
tales, Seviri Augustales and Seviri in Trans, of the Am. Phil. Assoc. XLV 
(1914) 238(23). 

(4) Bormann, Axis Pompeji in Wiener Eranos (1909) 314; f . ; Wissowa 
80(4); Wolters, Sitzungsb. d. kgl hay. Ahfld. d. Wissens. 1915, 30. 

-264 - 



still made offering to Mercury and Maia. (i) A reason for 
this preference would lie in the fact that Augustus was not 
infrequently likened to that divinity, and was even called by 
his name, as is revealed by an examination of the poetry of 
that period. Here the poets did not have in mind the Greek 
Hermes but the Italian god of commercial intercourse, who 
brought unstinted prosperity through business relations. Yet 
the identification of Augustus with Mercury was not taken too 
seriously, as the former during his lifetime and after his death 
when deified officially, preserved his independence and was 
reverenced as a separate divinity. (2) The first dated inscription 
containing the combination min. Aug. belongs to the year 2 
B. C, the second to I A. D., and the third to 3 A. D. (3) 
To the latter belongs also a dedication made by another member 
of the board, who is called simply a minister with no allusion 
to the Imperial cult. (4) This, therefore, seems to have been 
the old designation, which only gradually gave way before 
the new one; the latter is interpreted by Bormann as ministri 
Axig (ustales) rather than ministri Aug (usti). (5). 

The last inscription is dated in the year 40. (6) Thus 
the evidence for these officials, as Mommsen pointed out, 
continues only as long as the Emperors of the Julian gens 
remained in power; after the reign of Gaius no trace of them 
appears. The seat of the cult which they had in charge was 
probably destroyed at the time of the great earthquake and 



(1) C. L L. X, 888; Vaglieri 1161 : Gratus Arri, Messius Arriua Inuentus, 

Memor Istacid(i) min. Aug. Merc. Mai ex d. d. iussu[ This is dated by 

Bormann as later than 2 B. C, op. cit. 315. 

(2) Kiessling, Horatius in Philologische Untersuchungen II, 77 (37); 
Steuding loc. cit.; Mau 85; Wissowa 93. Cp. Reitzenstein, Poimandres 176. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 890; D. 6391, Vaglieri 1162; X, 891, 892; N. S. 1900, 270. 
Cp. Stein, Jahresber. iiber die Fortsch. der class. Altert. CXLIV (1909) 251. 

(4) N. S. 1890, 331, E. E. VIII, 316, Vaglieri 1024. The divinity honored 
here is concealed in the letters A. A. P. R. D. D. for which Mommsen sug- 
gests as supplement: Annonae Augustae populi Romani donum dat. 

(5) He regards the mention of Augusti in X, 892 as an error, but this 
seems improbable. It is possible, however, that there was at first the use of 
both forms and that one went out of use. Bormann op. cit. 316. 

(6) C. /. L. X, 893-923. The latest inscription that actually names these 
officials belongs to the year 34. Taylor loc. cit. 

- 265 - 



was not afterwards rebuilt, since the need for their services no 
longer existed. (1) 

Augustus was likewise the chief object of worship in the 
official ceremonies of the suburban district bearing his name. 
This division of the Pompeian territory, which was called 
pagus Augustas felix suburbanus, can not be definitely located, 
but perhaps consisted of a tract of land north of the Porta 
Ercolanese, where at least one inscription referring to it has 
been found!. (2) Neither the pagus, however, nor all of its 
official machinery was a creation of the Empire; it seems 
rather to have been formed in Sulla's time and at first to have 
been called pagus felix from his name. Nissen considered that 
its inhabitants were Oscans who had been compelled to leave 
the city proper in order to make room for the followers of the 
dictator, but the district may be merely a geographical 
division. (3) At this time the magistri of the pagus were 
already in existence, and are mentioned once before it received 
the name of Augustus. (4) Another inscription preserving 
the name of this district is of doubtful significance because of 
the form of expression. (5) As interpreted by Mommsen, it 
means that magistri of the pagus honored an actor Sorex, whom 
he identifies with one of the favorites of Sulla. He states that 
a recollection of this man had been preserved here as Sulla 
had an estate at Cumae. But since the inscription alludes to 
the reign of Augustus, this opinion seems unfounded. (6) 
Mau's interpretation, understanding magistri as a genitive 
case form, seems preferable; in this case Sorex himself was 
an officer of the pagus, and in his honor two herms were set 

(1) Mommsen, C. /. L. X, p. 109. 

(2) N. S. 1898, 499, D. 6376: M. Mundicius Malchio, M. Clodius Agatho 
mag. ex p(aganorum) c(onsensu) f(aciundum) c(urauerunt). 

(3) Nissen, Pomp. Studien 381; Mommsen, C. /. L. X, p. 90; Galli, 
Pompei dall'&9 aH'80 av. Crista in Rendic. Nap. XXI (1907) 538. 

(4) £. E. VIII, 317, D. 6377: lius C. J. PhUomus(us) mag. pagi fe- 

licis suburbani ex testam. etc. 

(5) C. /. L. X, 814, D. 5198, Vaglieri 1872: C. Noxbani Soricis, secunda- 
rum, mag(istri) pagi Aug. felicis suburbani ex d. d. loc. d. Thedenat, Pom- 
pei vie publique I, 72, erroneously oalls him a minister. 

(6) Mommsen, Ber. der sacks. Gesells. der Wiss. XI (1854) 159; Vaglieri, 
Sylloge epig. note to No. 1872. Cp. Overbeck-Mau 106. 

-266 - 



up, one in the temple of Isis and the other in the « Building 
of Eumachia ». To both enterprises he had perhaps made a 
contribution. (I) The magistri were expected to provide 
amusements for the people, but sometimes at the request of 
the decurions offered a substitute. Thus on one occasion they 
constructed a section of seats in the amphiteater. (2) Although 
they were generally freedmen, yet one of their number was 
a member of the influential family of the Clodii. (3) 

Pagani are likewise mentioned individually and collectively. 
In their collective capacity they set up an honorary inscription 
for M. Holconius Celer, a wealthy priest of Augustus, toward 
the close of that monarch's reign. (4) L. Laturnius Gratus as 
a slave had been a minister and after obtaining his freedom 
served as a paganus; another was an Augustalis; a third 
N. Istacidius Helenus is cited only for this position. (5) 
While the function of these officials seems to have been 
connected chiefly with the religious observances of their 
community, nothing is known about their specific duties or 
their relation to the magistri. (6) Below the latter were the 
ministri, who were always slaves. They formed a board of 
four and are mentioned in an inscription of 7 B. C, which 
purports to record the services of the first incumbents of this 
position. (7) 

More important than the various boards of ministri was 
the association of freedmen, who here as elsewhere in this 
region bore collectively the appellation of Augustales. (8) 

(1) Mau 182; Mau-Kalsey 176; Thedenat 72; Fornari, Le memorie isi- 
ache di Pompei in Riv. storico-crit. della scienza teol. V. (1909) 455. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 853; Vaglieri 1874; Mag. pag. Aug. f(ei'cis) s(uburbani) 
pro lud. ex d. d. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 1042; D. 6378; £. £. VIII, 317; C. /. L. X, 1074c; Vaglieri 
1789: A. Clodius M. f. Pal. scriba magist. pag. Aug. fel. sub. 

(4) C. I. L. X, 944. 

(5) C. /. L. X, 1027; D. 6379; Vaglieri 1870; C. I. L. X 1028; X, 1030; 
N. S. 1894, 15; D. 6380; Vaglieri 1871. 

(6) Mau 13. 

(7) C. /. L. X, 924; D. 6381 ; Vaglieri 1869: Dama Pup(i) Agrippae, Man- 
lianus Lucreti, Anteros Stati Run, Princeps Mescini ministri pagi Aug. fel. 
suburban, primi posuerunt etc. 

(8) C. /. L. X, 977. Cp. IV, 503, 1731 ; and JV. 5. 1892, 120, conjectur- 
ed to be from Pompeu. 

-267 - 



Five names of the members are known, who when taken 
singly are designated simply by the title of Augustalis; in 
other words there is no trace of the term sevdr. One of them 
M. Cerrinius Resti tutus, who is cited twice in the wax tablets 
of Caecilius Iucundus, belongs to the close of the city's history ; 
another C. Caluentius Quietus, who can be dated in the same 
way, flourished in Nero's reign. (1) The others have left no 
indications of date but Miss Taylor is inclined to believe that 
they are all later than the inscriptions referring to the ministri 
Aug (usti). (2) Between the two organizations there was 
probably no direct relationship. One of the officers called 
magister Augustalis, who presided at meetings of the 
organization to which he belonged, is also known. (3) 

In two cases Augustales received special dignities in the 
form of a permission granted them by the decurions for the 
use of the bisellium, a special kind of long seat. (4) According 
to Neumann this distinction was awarded regularly to 
Augustales, when there was a desire to confer some honor 
upon them, while seviri Augustales under the same conditions 
received the sella cur alts. (5) A mutilated inscription, a large 
part of which has been lost, may belong to a record of the 
conferment of the ornamenta Augustalitatis upon some one 
who because of age or some other impediment was not eligible 
to hold the office in the regular way. (6) The evidence for 
the presence of a special set of Augustales for Nero is dubious. 
It consists of a graffito, where the reading Neroneis Augusta 
(libus) is uncertain. (7) As Pompeii was zealous in promoting 
the worship of the Julian gens, and is known to have fostered 

(1) C. /. L. X, 994, 995, 1026; 6372. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 1034, 1066; JV. S. 1894, 384. Taylor, Trans. Am. Phil 
Assoc. XLV (1914) 238 (23). 

(3) C. /. L. X, 1055; D. 6374: C. Nouellius Natalia mag. Aug. Von Pre- 
merstein, Augustales, Ruggiero I, 835. 

(4) C. /. L. X, 1026; Vaglieri 1875 (C. Caluentius Quietus); X, 1030; D. 
6373; Vaglieri 1876 (C. Munatius Faustus). The figure of the bisellium, which 
is found on the altar of Faustus is reproduced by Overbeck-Mau 415, Fig. 214. 

(5) For instances of th''s distinction see Neumann, Bisellium, Roscher III, 
502 and De Ruggiero, Bisellarius, Ruggiero I, 1007. 

(6) C. /. L. X, 1025. 

(7) C. /. L. IV, 1745: Roma ual(e); Neroneis Augusta(libus) feliciter. 

- 268 - 



the cult of Nero, it would not be surprising to find an 
organization devoted to him during his life time, but there is 
as yet no good evidence for believing in its existence. 

A room in the Macellum; provided with an altar and 
apparently used for serving meals of a formal, religious 
character may have been allotted to this collegium. Possibly, 
however, it was assigned to a priestly organization of higher 
rank. (1) 

In addition to the various forms of the Imperial worship 
already enumerated, Augustus and his successors were honored 
by the ministrations of special priests of high rank. (2) These 
men, called now priests and now flamens, were citizens of the 
highest standing in the community and held the most important 
offices. (3) Thus a flamen of Augustus was the eminent 
M. Holconius Rufus, who was a patron of the colony and took 
a leading part in the restoration of the large theater. His 
activity in municipal affairs was at its height about the 
beginning of the Christian era. (4) As he held the office of 
quinquennalis for the fourth time in 2. B. C. and was then a 
flamen of Augustus, the worship of the ruler was maintained 
publicly at least as early as that date. (5) Nissen, calling 
attention to the evidence that at the beginning the cult of 
Augustus was strictly of a private nature, believes that there 
was at first a considerable party opposed to its development and 
that it grew with difficulty. (6) But, although it developed 
gradually here and had a less favorable atmosphere for its 
propagation, there is little indication that it had a worse enemy 
to contend with than indifference. Not only were a large number 
of organizations occupied with its ceremonies, but also in 

(1) Mau-Kelsey 100; Mau 96; Overbeck-Mau 125. 

(2) Cp. Hirschfeld, J sacerdozi municipali nelV Africa in Ann. Inst. 
XXXVIII (1866) 53. 

(3) Herbst, De sacerdotiis Romanorum municipalibus 8; Beurfrex, he 
culte impirial 169, 177-178: Geiger, De sacerdotibus Augustomtn 1 ; cp. 8. 

(4) C. /. L. X, 830; D. 6361b; Vaglieri 1809; X, 837; D. 6361 ; Vaglieri 
1808; X, 838; D. 6361a ; Vaglieri 1810; also the fragments X, 947, 948, 949; 
Examples of the combination of priest of Augustus and patron of a colony are 
given by Beurlier, op. cit. 181 (2). 

(5) Heinen, Klio XI (1911) 171 (1); Nissen, Pomp. Studien 243. 

(6) Nissen 183; and Orientation 348. 

- 269 - 



addition to these persons of low social standing, people of the 
higher classes became interested and provided buildings at 
their own expense. A younger Holconius with the cognomen 
Celer, who was associated in the work of the theater just 
mentioned, kept up the interest of his family in the worship 
of Augustus,* and filled the same priesthood. He was an 
incumbent of the duumvirate at the beginning of the reign of 
Tiberius and was filling the priesthood of Augustus at the time 
when the latter was deified. (1) 

A fragment points to the cult of the Empress Livia carried 
on by a priestess Vibia Sabina, but the reading is not certain. 
As she is called apparently Julia Augusta, the notice belongs 
to the period between the death of Augustus and her 
consecration at the hands of Claudius, when her worship by 
flaminicae is attested for Gallia Narbonensis. (2) A gladiatorial 
announcement, the reading of which is doubtful, perhaps 
refers to a priest of Claudius. (3) The substance of the 
inscription is that contests will take place on the occasion of 
the dedication of an altar in the interest of the welfare of the 
Emperor and his family. The priest is a distinguished citizen 
Cn. Alleius Nigidius Maius, who was a quinquennalis in the 
year 55-56. In the Macellum, as reconstructed, a room at the 
east end was fitted up for the cult of the Emperors. Mau 
believed that this was done in the time of Claudius, who was 
probably worshipped at Pompeii during his life time. Here 
were discovered statues identified as likenesses of Octavia and 
Marcellus, the sister and the nephew of Augustus, and with 
them an arm holding a globe, which Mau attributed to a statue 



(1) C. /. L. X, 840; D. 6362: M. Holconio Celeri d. u. i. d. quinq. de- 
signate Augusti sacerdbti. X, 945; D. 6362a: M. Holconio M. f. Celeri sacer- 
doti diui Augusti. X, 941-944, 946 fragments. 

(2) C. I. L. X, 961 : Vibiae C. f. S[abinae sacerdoti lujliae Aug. C. /. L. 
XII, 1363, 4249. 

(3) C. /. L. IV, 1180; Vaglieri 2180. Pro salute [Ti. Claudi] Caesaris 
Augu[sti] liberorumqu[e eius et ob] dedicationem arae fam(ilia) gladiat(oria) (?) 
Cn. Allei Nigidi Mai flami[nis Ti. Claudi] Caesaris Augusti pugn(abit Pompeis 
sine ulla dilatione etc. Garrucci, Bull. Nap .n. s. I (1853) 116.; Zangemeister, 
Arch. Zeit. XXVI (1868) 88. 

-270 - 



of the Emperor Claudius. He further conjectured that statues 
of Agrippina and Nero also stood in the shrine. (I) 

The latter was honored with a special priest even during 
the life time of Claudius. A number of advertisements of 
approaching gladiatorial combats contain the name of his 
permanent priest D. Lucretius Satrius Valens; these notices 
belong to the period 50-54 A. D. (2) Although no inscriptions 
have been found to prove a cult of Vespasian, there is reason 
to believe that his worship was prominent. A small temple on 
the eastern side of the Forum, which previously since the time 
of Garrucci had generally been considered the shrine of the 
first of the Emperors, has been assigned by Mau to the service 
of Vespasian. (3) The knowledge that the temple was in 
honor of an Emperor is derived from the fact that its altar 
contains reliefs exhibiting oak leaves and laurel, - emblems 
of the Imperial dignity. The circumstance, also pointed out 
by Mau, that a bull was represented as the sacrificial victim, 
shows that the temple was consecrated to the Genius of an 
Emperor still living rather than to one of the Diui. (4) As 
the laurel wreath is absent from the coins of the rulers between 
Augustus and Vespasian, and the temple itself is to be dated 
as a late work begun after the great earthquake, the theory 
that Vespasian was honored here is rendered very probable. 
On the contrary, apart from other considerations, the supposition 
that a temple should be dedicated to the Diuus Augustus so 
long after his death is quite unlikely. (5) 



(1) Mau 95 and Statua di Marcello in A.iti Nap. XV (1891) 133 f . ; Mau- 
Kelsey 99. 

(2) C. /. L. IV, 1185, 3884; D. 5145; N. S. 1914, 106. Nero's name was 
afterwards deleted. A list of the flamens and priests in this cult is given by 
Geiger, op.cit. 69. 

(3) Garrucci, Bull. Nap. n. s. II (1854) 4 and Questioni pompeiane 76; 
Nissen, Pomp. Studien 270-275 and Orientation 286, where the shrine is still 
treated as that of the Genius of Augustus ; Overbeck-Mau 1 1 7. 

(4) Cp. C. /. L. I, p. 384; VI, 2042 (inscriptions of the Arval Brethren); 
Wissowa, Arvales Fratres, P. W. II, 1485. 

(5) Mau, 5a/ creduto tempio del Genio di Augusto in Aiti Nap. XVI 
(1892) 182-188 and Pompeji (2) 102-105; Mau-Kelsey 106 f . ; Thedenat 53-56; 
Cesano, Genius, Ruggiero III, 460. 

- 271 - 



ORIENTAL CULTS, ISIS. 

The only Oriental cult known to have had a temple at 
Pompeii was that which was occupied with the worship of the 
Egyptian deities. (1) Since it was known to the people of 
Campania a long time before it existed in Rome and a temple 
was built in the neighboring city of Puteoli in the second cen- 
tury B. C, it is probable that adherents of the cult were to be 
found at Pompeii in that period. Soon its devotees were nu- 
merous enough to require a temple, which was erected about 
the beginning of the first century B. C. (2) Either at its foun- 
dation or at a subsequent date it passed directly under the con- 
trol of the city ; in other words the public authorities recognized 
this cult, although it was purely foreign in origin, as one of the 
legitimate forms of worship for the community. Lafaye calls 
attention to the use of aedes rather than templum to designate 
this building and regards it as evidence for a benevolent tolera- 
tion rather than for official recognition. Likewise, it may be 
said that this term is strictly appropriate for a shrine like this, 
built without inauguratio, but the word is not always accur- 
ately used (3). That it was subject to official supervision is 
proved by the epigraphical evidence, which indicates that the 
decurions had control over the assignment of places for statues 
in the court. (4) 

This shows that the new religion made its appeal mostly 
to the lower classes and in the earlier part of the Empire had 

(1) The name Sarapion, occurring at Pompei, seems to be that of a 
workman. /. G. 704. A dedication by a man of the same name was found in 
a temple of Isis at Philae (Egypt). 

(2) Lafaye, Les divinites d' Alexandria hors de VEgypte assigns the first 
temple to the second century; Nissen, Pomp. Studien 174 to the Oscan period 
200-80 ; Fornari, he memorie isiache di Pompei in Riv. siorico-crit. delle scienze 
teol. V (1909) 451 ; Cumont, Religions orientales dans le paganisme romain (2) 
121 to 100 B. C. ; Mau 175 to about J 35 B. C. Lovatelli, Nuova Antologia se- 
ries 3, No., 28, 112 (1890) 37; Wissowa 351 (1). 

(3) Lafaye, op. cit. 181. The temple of Fortuna Augusta is also called 
aedes. Cp. Saglio, Aedes t D.-S. I, 92; Habel, Aedes, P.-W. I, 444. That the 
temple was strictly an aedes and not founded with the ceremony of inauguratio 
is denied by Fornari op. cit. 452. 

(4) C. /. L. X, 814, 849; Mau 176; Mau-Kelsey 170. 

- 272 - 



made little progress among the aristocracy; in fact during this 
same period at Rome, it was first persecuted and then tolerated, 
and although it was legitimatized by Nero did not become 
fully popular among the ruling classes till after Pompeii 
had ceased to exist. (I) Hence when the original building 
collapsed in 63 A. D., a rich freedman's family provided the 
means for its restoration, — a fact recorded by an inscription 
affixed above the door leading into the temple court. From thi& 
source we gather that N. Popidius Ampliatus and his family 
were much interested in the cult, and consequently determined 
to honor the goddess and improve the city by rebuilding the 
fallen shrine. As the head of the household himself was unable 
because of his birth to profit by his munificence to the extent 
of receiving the decurionship from the grateful community, he 
did the work in the name of a six year old son, who duly be- 
came a decurion. (2) He also contributed in his own name a 
statue of Bacchus, who was sometimes identified with the Egyp- 
tian Osiris. (3) In the mosaic pavement of the temple were 
placed the names Popidius Celsinus belonging to the boy, 
Corelia Celsa, alluding to the mother, and Popidius Ampliatus, 
the reference of which is disputed. (4) 

It has been held by Nissen and Mau that another son is 
meant here who bore the same name as the father. (5) The 
evidence for this view is the statue and inscription already cited 
where the Head of 'he household is called pater. But this addition 
was made to call attention to his relationship to the nominal 
builder of the sanctuary rather than to distinguish him from a 
son of the same name. 

If there was such a son and he was commemorated by the 

(1) Wissowa 351 f.; Preller-Jordan II, 377 f . ; Lafaye, op. cit. 159 f. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 846, D. 6367, Vagiieri 1827: N. Popidius N. f. Celsinus 
aedem Isidis terrae motu conlapsam a fundamento p. s. restituit. Hunc decu- 
riones ob liberal itatem, cum esset annorum sexs ordini suo gratis adlegerunt. 
The word sexs has sometimes been regarded as an abbreviation for sexaginta 
Breton, Pompeia (3) 46 (3) ; Mazois, Les mines de Pompei IV, 25 (2). 

(3) C. /. L. X, 847: N. Popidius Ampliatus pater p. s. Lafaye, op. cit. 
7, 190. 

(4) C. /. L. X. 848: N. Popidi Ampliati, N. Popidi Celsini, Corelia 
Celsa, 

(5) Mau 176; Mau Kelsey 170; Nissen, Pomp, Siadien 347. 

-273 - 

IS 



appearance of his name in the temple floor, the word filius 
should have appeared to prevent an obvious confusion with 
his father, who without the presence of a distinguishing epithet 
would certainly be understood here (I). 

The shrine of the Egyptian deities was a more complicated 
affair than those consecrated to the worship of Greek and 
Italian deities, because its services and ceremonies were much 
more extensive and complex (2). The temple proper was of 
a peculiar shape, not Egyptian in character and yet differing 
from the common Roman! models (3). The cella, which was 
extremely long in proportion to its width, had a narrow portico 
in front and projecting niches at each extremity for the recep- 
tion of images. The statue of Bacchus mentioned above was 
fitted into the exterior wall of the cella at the back. In front 
were several altars of different sizes; at one corner was a pit 
for the disposal of refuse, at the other was an unroofed struc- 
ture usually called the « Purgatorium » with a flight of steps 
leanding to an underground chamber which contained the holy 
« Nile » water used in the ritual. Though the temple itself had 
an eastern frontage probably because of the exigencies of the 
available land, the Purgatorium was built in true Egyptian 
fashion to face the north (4). All these accessories together 
with the temple itself were surrounded by a colonnade on one 
side of which, facing the entrance to the temple, was a little 
shrine supposed to have been devoted to Horus-Harpocrates. 
As the ritual demanded the daily performance of ceremonies, 
quarters were provided so that a priest might always be in 
attendance. 

Beyond the colonnade in the rear of the sanctuary were 
two other rooms utilized for the ceremonies of the cult. The 
larger is sometimes explained as having been employed for 
serving a common ritualistic meal to the devotees and for pre- 

(1) Thedenat 74; Fornari op. cit. 458; Fiorelli, Descrizione di Pompei 
361. 

(2) LovateHi, op. cit. 47 f . ; Man 182 f . ; Mau-Kelsey 176 f. 

(3) Mau 177; Mau-Kelsey 171; Nicolini, Pompei I part. 2. Nissen, 
Orientation 98 thinks that it was oriented to agree with the sun of July 20, 
the old Egyptian New Year. 

(4) Nissen,Orienfafion 281 ; Fornari, op. cit. 453; Lafaye, op. cit. 183. 

- 274 - 



senting the myth of Isis and Osiris. (I) It was mrie likely 
used as a meeting place for the flourishing band of Isiaci, who 
>vere organized in connection with this cult. (2) The smaller 
room was devoted to the secret ceremonies of initiation, which 
appear to have been held at njght, as a large stock cf lamps 
was stored in an adjoining closet. (3) Besides the lamps and 
other vessels accumulated here, the temple yielded a large 
number of small objects; those pertaining to the ceremonies 
include a sistrum, vessels of clay, bronze, lead, and glass, a 
gold cup, an iron tripod, a marble table, a bronze knife, lamp, 
brazier and candlestick, a marble hand and two human skulls. 
These served for the common meal, the sacrifices, procession, 
and initiations. Finally a stone slab covered with hieroglyphics 
portraying scenes of prayer was unearthed near the great altar, 
and fragments of inscriptions and votive offerings are said to 
have been found in considerable numbers. (4) There is no 
evidence for the assertion of Trede that it was used as a dream 
oracle. (5) 

The principal deities Isis and Osiris were represented by 
cult statues within the cella. Other related divinities stood in 
the projecting niches at the sides of the temple, — perhaps 
Anubis and Harpocrates, who also had a shrine in front. These 
statues seem for the most part to have been removed by the 
priests at the time of the great disaster. Yet two were left on 
their pedestals against the west wall of the colonnade, one of 
which represents Isis, the other Venus. (6) Here as often the 

(1) Mau 186; Mau-Kelsey 180-181. 

(2) Overbeck-Mau 109; Lafaye op. eft. 185; Walzing, Etude hist sur 
les corp. prof. I, 216; Cp. Guamet, Vlsis romedne in Comptes rendus de VAcad. 
des inscr. 1896, 157. 

(3) Mau 186-187. 

(4) Lafaye, Les divin. d'Alexandrie hors de VEgypte 191 ; Drexler, 
i&is, Raseher II, 526; Trede, Das Heidentum in der rbm. Kirche IV, 313. For 

more complete descriptions and plans of the temple see Mau-Kelsey 168 f. 
(with bibliography 526); Mau 174 f . ; Thedenat 70 f . ; Lafaye 179 f., and Isis] 
D.-S. Ill, 585; Nissen, Pop. Studien 170 f . ; A bibliography is given by Drex- 
ler, Roscher II, 399. The temple of Isis and its priests play a prominent part 
in Bulwer-Lytton's romance « The Last Days of Pompeii ». 

(5) Trede, op. cit. I, 110. 

(6) C. /. L. X, 849: L. Caecilius Phoebus posuit 1. d. d. d. The statue 
of Venus has disappeared. Overbeck-Mau 649 (208). That of Isis is reproduced 

-275 . 



two goddesses were associated, but there is no probability, as 
maintained by Gerhard, that Isis was assimilated to the 
likeness of the Pompeian Venus. (1) The first statue was set 
up by a freedman L. Caecilius Phoebus in the spot allotted by 
the decurions; it belonged to the first temple and is listed by 
Lafaye among the earliest works of art which illustrate the 
cult outside of Egypt. (2) Furthermore, small images of va- 
rious materials and many marble fragments of statues, which 
had been composed mainly of wojod, Were discovered. A 
painting representing Harpocrates is still extant. Here he 
appears as a youth with his finger in his' mouth, and is accom- 
panied by the familiar emblems of the horn of plenty and the 
lotus; before him stands a priest and in the background is a 
temple. (3) Stucco reliefs in the Purgatorium represent two 
Egyptian goddesses and priests both male and female doing 
obeisance to a vase of holy water. In the colonnade were 
painted priests of Isis and marine subjects, which called atten- 
tion to her as mistress of the sea (Isis Pelagia). (4) 

These gods have also left their mark in various dwellings. 
In a wall painting belonging to a house situated in the Strada 
Stabiana, Isis appears as a winged deity wearing tunic and 
sandals. Upon her head rests a crescent, in her hands are the 
sistrum and the horn of plenty. Other details of the picture are 
a globe and a steering - oar. She is accompanied by a youthful 
horseman, identified as Horus, and by a Cupid-like figure 
carrying a torch. This picture came into existence from the 
work of a certain Philocalus. It seems to represent an early 
amalgamation of Isis with Fortuna, a conception which does 
not appear in inscriptions before the second century A. D. (5) 



in Clarac, Musie de sculpture PI. 990, No. 2580 ; Nicolini, Tempio d'lside PL VI 
in Pompei I, part 1. Cp. Lafaye op. cit. 189-190; Overbeck-Mau 106. 

(1) Gerhard, r Arch. Anzeiger 1863, 51 ; Drexler, Isis, Roscher II, 499. 

(2) Lafaye, op. cit. 241. 

(3) Helbig 3, No. 1; Lafaye 188; and Isis, D.-S. Ill, 580; Mail, 178; 
Mau-Kelsey 173. 

(4) Lafaye, Les divin. d' Alexandria 191 ; Mau 180. Cp. Drexler, Ro- 
scher II, 482; von Bissing, The Cult of Isis in Pompeian Paintings in Trans. 
Third Intern. Congr. for Hist, of Rel. I, 225. 

(5) C. /. L. IV, 882: Philocalus uotum sol(uit) libes merito. Helbig 25, 

-276- 



The Casa degli Amorini dorati, excavated in 1902-1905, contains 
a sacellum and a painting with many symbols of the cult. 
Fornari suspects from the presence of tragic masks in the house 
decoration and other details that it belonged to an actor probably 
Sorex, one of whose herms came from the Isis temple. (JX 
Other paintings exhibit Isis often in company with Serapis, 
Anubis, and Harpocrates. (2) 

Stray notices appearing on the walls have preserved a 
few bits of information about members of the congregation of 
Isis worshippers. In election placards the Isiaci appear as 
backers of particular candidates for the aedileship, - C. Cuspius 
Pansa and Cn. Heluius Sabinus, who were devotees or patrons 
of the cult or who had manifested at least a pre-election interest 
in its welfare. The name of Pansa's supporter Popidius Natalis 
is seen upon a water jar found in the temple. (3) This 
organization, which probably had a meeting place in the 
shrine, as suggested above, included in its membership the 
priests and most zealous worshippers of Isis; it doubtless was 
large and exercised considerable influence in certain circles 
of society. (4) More important is a graffito in Greek, which 
was discovered in 1892 in the House of the Silver Wedding. 
It records that one Theophilus had been performing his devotions 
in the shrine of Isis, and there prayed for the welfare of a 
certain woman Beroe. The goddess is mentioned simply by 
her familiar title xopta. The house in general showed strong 



No. 78; Lafaye 326, No. 215.Cp. Gerhard, Arch. Zeit. V (1847) 128; Panofka, 
Bull Inst 1847, 128; Cumont, Panthea signa, D.-S. IV, 314; Drexler, Roscher 
II, 546. 7 

(1) Sogliano, N. S. 190¥, 554 f. ; Fornari, Riv. storico-crit. di scienze 
teol. V (1909) 463. 

(2) Helbig Nos. 79, 80, 1094c, 1102; Lafaye, Les divin. d' Alexandrie, 
catalogue, Nos. 216, 217, 219-221. A list of the Pompeian houses exhibiting 
scenes from the Isis cult is given by Drexler, Roscher II, 399. 

(3) C. /. L. IV, 1011, D. 6419 f., Vaglieri 1796: Cuspium Pansam aed. 
Popidius Natalis cliens cum Isiacis ro»g. IV, 787, D. 6420b: Cn.- Heluium Sa- 
binum aed. Isiaci uniuersi rog, Nissen, 355. 

(4) Lafaye, op. cit. 145; Liebenam, Zur Geschichte und Organisation 
de's rorn. V ereinwesens 296. 

- 277 - 



indications of Egyptian influence. (1) fik graffito in Latin is 
limited to the word Isis. (2) 



MAGNA MATER. 

The influence of Magna Mater is not so well attested as 
that of Isis and no shrine has yet been found. Some works of 
art, however, were unmistakably inspired by this cult. A wall 
painting brought to light in 1912 represents a halt in the sacred 
procession which carried an image of the goddess seated on a 
throne. The bearers stand close by the statue ready to resume 
their task. Among the followers of the goddess are recognized 
a priest and musicians, who utilize the instruments appropriate 
for their cult, - the flute, drum, and cymbals. (3) A mosaic 
found at Pompeii, the subject of which reappears in a wall 
painting of Stabiae, shows three persons, two men and a woman, 
who are using the same instruments. This mosaic, which is 
signed by Dioscorides of Samos, is generally considered as 
a scene from comedy, but Graillot suggests that it should be 
interpreted as a reproduction of the pjtpaYopTai or begging 
priests of Cybele. (4) Other works of art which may have 
derived their origin from ihis cult include a terra cotta statuette 
probably of Magna Mater seated upon a lion, and perhaps a 
few wall paintings, but those cited by Graillot are not certainly 
connected with this religion. (5) 

Here must be mentioned a Greek inscription unearthed 
in the Capitol. It records the fact that C. Iulius Hephaestion, 
a priest of the Phrygian community, set up a Zeus Phrygius 



(1) C. /. L. IV, 4189; Fornar', op. cit. 462; Mau, Rom. Mitt. VIII (1893) 
57. Inscriptions parallel in form are found in Letronne, Inscriptions de T£- 
gypte II, 64, 76 etc. 

(2) C. J. L. IV, 1581. 

(3) Spano, N. S. 1912, 110. 

(4) Graillot, he culte de Cybele 565, addition to p. 255. Reproduced by 
Bieber und Rodenwaldt, Jahrb. des archaol. Ins. XXVI (1911) 1, Fig. 1 and 5. 
(5) The statuette is identified as Venus by Sogliano, N. S. 1908, 277; 
Graillot, op. cit. 568, addition to p. 433; Helbig 421, 558, 1558. 

- 278 - 



at a date expressed according to the Egyptian mode 
s of computation and equivalent to 3 B. C. The reference is prob- 
ably to Attis-Papas, who was identified with Zeus by the 
Greeks (1). The interpretation of this inscription has been 
troublesome. There is no other evidence for the presence of a 
contingent of Phrygians at Pompeii or for a cult of this deity, 
although some scholars have inferred from this record that both 
were present (2). Wolters calls attention to the impropriety of 
a dedication to an Oriental deity in a Capitol representing the 
old state religion of Rome, but if there was no shrine dedicated 
specifically to the god of the inscription and likewise no sanc- 
tuary of Magna Mater, the temple of the Capitoline Jupiter 
might seem to be the most suitable depository for an offering 
made to the Phrygian god (3). But the language of the inscription 
suggests Egypt rather than Italy, and the stone appears in fact 
to have been placed originally in a shrine at Alexandria, and 
only later to have reached Pompeii. How or why it was convey- 
ed hither is a mystery (4). 



THE GODS OF THE DAYS OF THE WEEK. 



The gods who presided over the destinies of the various 
days of the week were recognized here, as is proved by notices 
referring to them singly and collectively. In a wall painting 
discovered in 1760 were represented the busts of the seven 
deities arranged in the following order : Saturn, Sol, Luna, Mars, 
Mercury, Jupiter, Venus. This is considered the oldest extant 
record referring to them and is dated by Mau at about 50 A. 



(1) /. G. XIV, 701, C. I. G. 5866c, VagUeri 1119. Cp. C. /. L. X, 796. 

(2) Perdrizet, Syriaca in Rev. arch. XXXV (1899) 47; Reitzenstein, 
Poimandres 163 and Zwei Religionsgeschichtliche Fragen 104 (3). Hofer, Papas, 
Roscher, III, 1560; Dod. Ill, 58. 

(3) Wolters, Des Skulpturenschmuck des Apolloheiligtums in Sitzungs- 
ber, der fef. bayer. Akfld. 1915, 30. 

(4) Dittenberger, Orientis Graeci inscriptionea seleciae II, 658; Gervasio, 
Iscrizione de Luccei in Mem. d. r. accad. ercoh VII, 311; Graillot, op. cit. 
568, corr.to 433 (2). 

- 279 - 



D. (I). A graffito, written in Greek at about the same time 
exhibits a complete roster of these gods beginning with Saturn; 
a second list discovered in 1901 gives the same gods in their 
Latin forms (2). Names of single days sometimes appear in 
market notices as the dies Solis, which is found in a record of 
60 A. D. Another reference tol the dies Solis, which on astronom- 
ical grounds suits the year 60, and to the title imperator, is 
interpreted by Sogliano as an allusion to the acclamations ac- 
corded to Claudius after victories won by his troops in that 
year (3). 

JUDAISM. 

The names Maria and Martha, which occur in wall insqrip^ 
tions point to the presence of the Jews, a number of whom seem 
to have lived as slaves. Mau also cites the name M. Valerius 
Abinnerichus found upon an amphora for holding wine as a 
further evidence for the presence of members of this race (4). 
On an earthen vessel appears the name of a kind of fish soup 
which Pliny says was in use among the Jews (5). 

(!)De Witte, Les divinitis, des sept jours de la semaine in Gaz. arch. 
Ill (1877) 79; Lersch, Der planetarische Gotterkreis in Jahrb. des Vereins von 
Alterthumsf. i m Rheirtlande IV (1844) 163; Humbert, Dies D. - S. II, 172; 
Maass, Die Tagesgotter in Rom 266; Dubois 163; Helb'g 200, No. 1005. Helbig 
suspected that the other representations of gods found in the same room 
belonged to a cycle of divinities who were the patrons of the months. Here were 
noted Venus for April, Jupiter for July, Vulcan for September, Diana 
for November. 

(2) C. /. L. IV, 5202, 6779. 

(3) C. /. L. IV, 4182; Nerone Caesare Augusto, Cosso Lentudo Cossi 
fil. cos. VIII Idus Februar'as dies Solis Iuna XIIIIIX, nun (dinae) Cumis V 
(Idus Februarias) nun (dinae) Pompeis. C. /. L. IV, 6838: IX K (al) Iunias im- 
perator, dies fuit Solis. Sogliano, N. S. 1908, 55; Maass op. cit. 265; Mau, 
Rom. Mitt. VIII (1893) 31. In the National Museum at Naples lamps of un- 
known origin contain representations of the moon and planets. C. /. L. X, 
8053 (81); Maass, op. cit. 234 (209). 

(4) C. L L. IV, 1507 (6), 5244, 5611-5621, 5630. Ferorelli, Qli Ebrei neU 
V Italia meridionale n Arch. stor. Nap. XXXII (1907) 251 (2) and Gli Ebrei neU 
Vlt. merid. ddVeth romana al secolo XVIII, 3; Mau 17; Le Blant, Comptes 
rendus de Vacad. des inscr. 1885, 146; Sogliano, >ifene e Roma XVII (1914) 369. 

(5) C. /. L. IV, 2569. Gar (urn) cast (imoniale); cp. C. /. L. IV, 2609; 
Plin. not. XXXI, 95; Friedlander, Sittengeschtchte (8) IV, 237; Marquardt-Mau„ 
Das Privatleben der Rbmer 440 (8). 

-280 - 



A wall painting seems to have for its theme the well known 
subject of the judgment of Solomon, but this interpretation is 
not certain (1). Likewise the words Sodoma, Gomora scratch- 
ed upon the wall of a modest dwelling seem to be the work of 
a 'Jew. It was considered by Nissen to be a prophecy of the 
destruction of Pompeii, based upon its similarity to those cities 
in wickedness, but more probably it was written by a Jew who 
had taken refuge here when the city was threatened with 
destruction (2). 

CHRISTIANITY. 

There is a possibility that the graffito just discussed was 
the work of a Christian who had in mind one of the utterances 
of Jesus (3). No other sure evidence has been found to attest 
their presence. A graffito, which has now disappeared was at 
one time regarded as a reference to the Christians, but its reading 
was extremely doubtful. A lamp reported as discovered in the 
excavations of Pompeii contained what appeared to be a Chris- 
tian monogram, but it is generally believed not to be authentic 
evidence for the presence of adherents of the Christian faith (4). 
At the same time there is no reason to deny the possibility of 
their presence; the words of Tertullian relative to the lack of 
Christians in Campania before the eruption of Vesuvius are an 
exaggeration (5). 

(1) Tha so-aalledl «Judgment of Soiomon» is reproduced by Overbeck- 
Mau 583, Fig. 306; »Mau 16, Fig. 6; Lucas, Ein Marchen bei Petron in Fest- 
schrift fur Hirschfeld 258. Cp. Lumbroso, Sul dipinto pompeiano in cui si e 
ravvisato il giudizio di Salomone in. Atti dei Lincei series 3, XI, (1882-3) 303; 
C. /. L. IV, 4976 ; Martha, Manuel d' archiologie itrusque et romaine 260 ; So- 
gliano, JV. S. 1882, 323; De Rossi, Bull Inst. 1883, 37; Samter, Jahrb. des arch. 
Inst. XIII (1898) 49; Lowy, Rend, dei Lincei 1897, 36 L 

(2) Nissen, Italische Landeskunde II, 766; Sogliano, Di un luogo dei 
Libri Sibyllini in Atti Nap. XVI (1891-3) 178-9; Herrlich, Berl. phil. Wochens. 
XXIII (1903) 1151; Harnack, Die Mission u. Ausbr. d. Christeniums II, 74(3). 

(3) Nestle, Eine Spur des Christeniums in Pompeji? in Zeits. fiir die 
neutest. Wissens. V (1904) 168. 

(4) Mau-Kelsey 18; Mau 17; Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the 
Roman Citizen 346; Labanca, Giornale d' Italia Oct. 14, 1905; Harnack op. cir. 
Nachtrage II, 312. 

(5) Harnack op. cit. II, 346. 

- 281 - 



HERCULANEUM. 

Between Neapolis and Pompeii a small section of the coast 
that is washed by the Bay of Naples was occupied by the terri- 
tory of Herculaneum. For the most part it comprised the slope 
of Vesuvius which had lain dormant for centuries, — a charming 
location for the building of villas and adapted moreover for the 
cultivation of the vine. As a result of the eruptions of the vol- 
cano, the contour of the land has been materially modified, so 
that it no longer conforms to the outlines contained in the 
descriptions of the ancients. Sisenna the historian says that 
the town was built on a considerable hill adjacent to the sea 
between two small streams of water, and adds that it was of 
no great size (1). Existing remains demonstrate that the town 
had a regular arrangement of streets like its neighbor Neapolis. 
While it was the residence of many wealthy people, it was of 
little economic and commercial importance (2). 

Herculaneum was not often mentioned by ancient writers. 
Submitting in succession to the predominance of Oscan, Etrus- 
can, and Samnite elements, it became a member of the league 
headed by Nuceria. With that city it became subject to Rome 
in the year 307 B. C. and remained faithful until the period of 
the Social War, when the army of Papius Mutilus invaded the 
Sarnus valley. After its recapture by the Romans in 89 B. C. it 
was made a municipality and continued in the same condition 
with no particular history until the outbreak of volcanic activity 
in the first century A. D. After suffering severely from the 
earthquake shock of 63 it was entirely overwhelmed and sub- 
merged by debris from Vesuvius in 79. It remained buried be- 
neath dense masses of ashes and lava from successive eruptions, 

(1) Peter, Hist Rom. frag. No. 53, p. 182. 

(2) Nissen, It. Landeskunde II, 759; Barker, Buried Herculaneum 2 f . j 
Waldstein and Shoobridge, Herculaneum 59 f. 

- 282 - 



until in the eighteenth century a small portion of its area was 
excavated. Since that time but little progress has been made in 
uncovering it (1). 

Herculaneum has left no coins, and the literary and epi- 
graphical material bearing upon the question of religious 
conditions is especially scanty. Although temples were discov- 
ered in the course of investigations, little information has reach- 
ed us on the subject. They were not excavated carefully, and 
when the works of art that they contained had been removed, 
they were, straightway filled up again. As a result of the unsys- 
tematic excavation and the incomplete accounts, the exact 
number of temples discovered is uncertain. La Vega's plan of 
the excavations, which, however, was not based on a personal 
knowledge of all the points indicated, shows only three temples, 
but reports of the works then carried on demonstrate the 
existence of two others (2). On the other hand, it is probable 
that one of the three shrines in the first group had no real 
existence and its supposed presence was based upon an error. 
At any rate it is clear that the town must have possessed more 
than four or five temples. With one exception no knowledge 
is at hand of the divinities honored in the buildings which 
have been discovered. Names adopted by the excavators such 
as Temple of Theseus, Temple of Jupiter, and Temple of 
Demeter have no significance (3). 



(1) For the city's history see Mommsen, C. J. L. X, p. 156; Beloch 
218-219; Gall, Herculaneum, P.-W. VIII, 533; Waldstein and Shoobridge op. cit. 
chap. II; Barker, op. cit. chap. II; de Ruggiero, Herculaneum, Ruggiero III, 

f>78 

(2) La Vega according to Waldstein was « the last and best of the eigh- 
teenth century excavators)). The plan of La Vega was first reproduced by Ro- 
sini, Dissertationis isagogicae ad Herculanensium voluminum explanationem 
pars prima 4; aftewards by De lorio, Notizie sugli scavi di Ercolano PI. I; 
Ruggiero, Sioria degli scavi di Ercolano PI. II ; Waldstein and Shoobridge op. 
cit. 11 ; Mau 532. Cp. the plan of Dall'Osso in Nuova Antologia ser. 131 (1906) 
I, 109 and in Barker, op. cit. 23. 

(3) Besides the temple of Magna Mater, which will be noticed later, 
one of the shrines is known in some detail. See Weber's report for Sept. 22, 
1759 in Ruggiero, Scavi di Ercolano 289. Cp. Ruggiero, op. cit XL; Wald- 
stein and Shoobridge 74-76; Mau 544. 

- 283 - 



JUPITER. 

The evidence for a cult of Jupiter, which without doubt 
flourished here, is uncertain, and rests upon two inscriptions, 
which although sometimes attributed to this town, were assigned 
by Mommsen to Pompeii. This uncertainty about the place of 
discovery is especially unfortunate because one of them refers 
to the building or repairing of a temple. The other is a simple 
dedication (I). 

HERCULES. 

The name of the city was naturally always associated by 
the ancient writers with Hercules, and it was called now 
Herculea urhs, now Herculanense oppidum (2). So the poet 
Martial, alluding to the havoc wrought by Vesuvius speaks of 
the town as « the place called by Hercules' name », and Statius 
implies that the god should have saved it from ruin (3). Here 
a myth was localized the hero of which was Hercules. According 
to this tale he sacrificed in the vicinity tithes of the booty that 
he had acquired on his Spanish expedition, and founded a 
village on the site where his army had been bivouacing ; then he 
continued on his way to Sicily (4). Aqtual evidence for his- 
worship is confined to a mutilated dedication inscribed upon a 
bronze pig, which has not preserved the name of the dedicator. 
According to eighteenth century reports it was found in company 
with a bronze image of Hercules and various utensils designed 
for the purpose of sacrifice (5). 

The older scholars speak commonly of a temple of this 
god discovered during the course of the excavations, and such 
a building is marked on the plans of both La Vega and Dal- 

(1) C. /. L. X, 925; 926. Quoted on p. 224 (2). 

(2) Ov. met. XV, 711; Sen. not. VI, 1 ; 2. 

(3) Mart. IV, 44, 6. Hie locus Herculeo nomine clarus eiat. Stat. ail. V, 3, 
164: Neglectaque tellus Alcidae. 

(4) Dion. Hal. 1, 44. 

(5) C. /. L. X, 1405: Her(culi) uoe(=uotum?) m. 1, Gerhard-Panofka, 
Neapels antikjs Bildwerkfi p. 178; Riisch, Guida del Museo Nazionale di Napoli 
355, No. 1493 ; Waldstein and Shoobridge 289. Reproduced by Pixol- et Piranesi, 
Antiquites d'Herculanum IV, 44. 

- 284 - 



TOsso as standing near the theater. Moreover, the sacrificial 
implements and other objects mentioned above may well have 
been found in such a place (1). Yet the investigators, who in 
those days were prone to attach the name of temple to any 
public building, sometimes themselves express doubts about 
the identity of the ruin with which they are dealing. As pointed 
out by Miss Barker, it is not unlikely that the excavators confus- 
ed the supposed temple with parts of the « basilica » and the 
theater (2). Hence there is ample reason to doubt the discovery 
of a public temple of Hercules, but none whatever to disbe- 
lieve in its existence. Besides the small bronze image mentioned 
above, two mutilated statues of this god and a small statuette 
were unearthed in the eighteenth century excavations (3). 

VENUS. 

Venus, who was so popular at Pompeii, had a following 
also at Herculaneum, but there is no evidence for believing that 
she was conceived with the peculiar attributes which gave so 
much individuality to the Pompeian goddess. The age of the 
cult is attested by the fact that she is mentioned in an Oscan 
inscription as Herentas, the old Italic nature goddess (4). It is 
inscribed upon a marble table designed to receive offerings, 
which was found probably in the theater along with a small 
marble Venus and a bronze statuette of Hercules. The dedica- 
tion was made to the goddess with the epithet Erycina, — an 
indication that the cult had been modified by the influence of 
the Sicilian divinity. It was the work of the meddix tuticus, the 
supreme magistrate of the community (5). The terms centuria 
Veneria and centuria Concordia were in use for marking divi- 
sions of the freedmen (6). 

(1) De Venuti, Detle antichita d'Ercolano (ed. of 1748) 133; (ed. of. 
(1749) 97; report of Alcubierre in Ruggiero, op. cit. 44. 

(2) Barker, Buried Herculaneum 65-69. 

(3) Barker, op. cit. 36, 44, 64. 

(4) Wissowa 290 and Herentatis, Roscher 1, 2298. 

(5) Buck, No. 41= Conway 87= von Planta 117. 

(6) C. /. L. X, 1403. Walzing, Lea corporations professionnelles chez lea 
Romains I, 360 (5); de Ruggiero, Herculaneum Ruggiero III, 678; Liebenam, 
Zur Geschichte und Organisation des rom. V ereinwesens 294. 

- 285 - 



HYGIA. 

A votive statue offered to Hygia by a woman named Julia 
is said to have been due to a dream or a sinister omen. There 
is no reason for believing that the goddess was a manifestation 
of Isis (I). In fact she is mentioned again as Salus on a small 
altar discovered in 1872 (2). 

ROMAN CULTS, GENIUS. 

The pedestal of a little image of Fortuna contains an in- 
scription which is somewhat uncertain because of its conciseness 
and the employment of abbreviations. It bears the name of 
Philemo, an actor of the second parts, and as supplemented by 
Mommsen records the offering made by the magistri of some 
collegium to the Genius of that body. This supplement, alluding 
to an organization of the actors is preferable to that adopted by 
Beloch, who thought of a Genius eivitatis (3). Another Genius 
the object of private devotions, appears in a wall painting 
discovered in 1 749. He is represented by a serpent twined around 
an altar and feeding upon an offering; at one side is a naked 
youth identified by Zangemeister as Harpocrates, at the other 
is an inscription commemorating the Genius of a mountain (4). 
The picture was earlier identified by Panofka in connection 
with the cult of Aesculapius, who according to this interpretation 
was represented by the serpent; the youth was regarded as 
Acesius, the son of Aesculapius and like him a healing divin- 
ity (5). It seems to have been made in payment of a vow. 



(1) C. /. L. X, 929: Julia Hygia ex uisu. Barker, op. cit. 175. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 8167: jSaluti sacrum. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 1404=Vaglieri 1067: Philemonis secu(ndarum) mag(istri) 
Gen(io) c(ollegii). Cp. X, 814; Beloch 225. 

(4) C. /. L. IV, 1176: Genius huius loci mantis, Piroli et Piranesi, An- 
tiquites d'Herculanum peintures I, No. 38 ; Baumeister Denkmaler 593 ; Helbig, 
Wandgemiilde, No. 81 ; Lafaye, Les divinitds d'Alexandrie hors de VEgypte 
330, No. 224; Birt, Genius Roscher I, 1624; Museo Borbonico IX, 52. 

(5) Panofka, AskJepios und die Astyepiaden in Abhand. der kgl Ahad, 
der Wiss. zu Berlin 1845, 286; PI. II, 2. 

- 286 -■ 



THE CULT OF THE EMPERORS. 

The cult of Augustus and his successors is attested by the 
presence of Augustales. The most prominent person who held 
the position was apparently a wealthy freedman L. Mammius 
Maximus, who flourished in the reign of Claudius. This indivi- 
dual acted as the community's benefactor by adorning the town 
with statues, and either he or one of his family constructed a 
macellum. He was especially zealous in showing his regard 
toward all the members of the Imperial family. By such acts he 
so won the esteem of his fellow-citizens that they raised a 
contribution /f or! a bronze statue in his honor to be set up in the 
theater (1). Another Augustalis was the freedman M. Claudius 
Hymenaeus, who seems to appear again in a long list of names 
attached to the wall of the theater. An indication for his date 
is afforded by the fact that his patron held public office under 
Tiberius (2). A badly damaged inscription refers apparently 
to the donation of a building to the organization of Augustales 
as a whole (3). 

Dedications to three of the diui were discovered at Her- 
culaneum. Diuus Iulius was twice honored, once by the people 
as a whole and once by the Augustales. Diuus Augustus receiv- 
ed recognition at the hands of the same association, while 
Livia, who} was deified under Claudius, appears in an inscription 
set up for the wealthy Augustalis Mammius Maximus mention- 
ed above. In each case the inscriptions belonged to statues (4). 

(1) C. /. L. X, 1452=D. 6352 = Vaglieri 2197: L. Mammio Maximo Au- 
gustali municipes et incolae aere conlato. Cp. D. 123, 150, 177, 5581 and C. /. L. 
X, 1418. The statue containing the above inscription is reproduced in the Real 
Museo di Napoli VI, PI. 41, where the commentator asserts that he was of 
noble birth, a conclusion based in part upon the fact that he belonged to the 
Augustales. Barker op. cit. 187 erroneously describes him as a « priest of Au- 
gustus », for "which of course another designation than Augustalis would be 
required. 

(2) C. J. L. X, 1448 = D. 6353 = Vaglieri 2196: M. Claudio Marcelli Aeser- 
nini lib. Hymenaeo AugustaJi. This man's former master is cited by Tac. ann. 
Ill, 11; XI, 6. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 1462: d.] d. locum ab inchoato cum tectoris p. p. 

Augustalibus datum. The inscription itself was not found but its impression. 
Alcubierre's report in Ruggiero Scavi di Ercolano 23. 

(4) C. J. L. X, 1410-1413. 

- 287 - 



No evidence regarding the priests or the details of the cult of 
the Emperors has come down to us. 

ORIENTAL CULTS, ISIS. 

As Isis worship was prominent at Puteoli and Pompeii at 
the beginning of the first century B. C, so it is probable that 
there was a shrine here dating from approximately the same 
period. But the actual evidence for the cult in this community 
is less than in the other towns of this region. It consists of a 
number of small objects and accessories of the worship and of 
wall paintings portraying either a god or some scene connected 
with the ceremonies. Although the latter testify to the artistic 
rather than to the religious notions prevalent in the community, 
they nevertheless show a wide spread familiarity with the reli- 
gious rites which they depict. 

One of the wall paintings has been interpreted as a repre- 
sentation of the afternoon service which was held daily in 
connection with the worship of the Egyptian gods. On the top 
of the steps leading to the temple stand two priests, one of 
whom holds a vessel of holy water while the others are shaking 
sistra. Below is an altar where a priest attends to the fire and 
two rows of priests and believers combined are drawn up in two 
rows to watch the ceremony (I). Another painting has been 
regarded as an allusion to one of the features of the autumn 
festival or as the representation of the daily morning service (2). 
Small bronze figures portray Isis-Fortuna and Harpocrates. 
Among the instruments used in the ritual of the Egyptian gods 
were found examples of the sistrum and the crotalum and also 
a bronze vase covered with hieroglyphics (3). 

(1) Helbig 221, No. 111! ; Lafaye op. cit 329, No. 223; Piroli et Piranesi 
II, PL 3\\ Roux et Bane, Herculanum et Pompei recueil general II, PL 68; 
Mau 182 f; Mau-Kelsey 176 f ; Comptes rendus de Vacad. des inscr. 1896, 
PL VIII. 

(2) Helbig 222, No. 1112; Lafaye 328, No. 222; Piroli e* Piranesi II, 
PL 30; Roux et Barre II, PL 69; Mau 183. Cp. Helbig, Nos. 1094, 1104 = Lafaye, 
Nos. 225, 226. A full list of paitings is given by Drexler, Isis, Roscher II, 
399-400. 

(3) Lafaye, op. cit. catalogue Nos. 52, 69, 70 with references to the books 
in which they are reproduced; Diexler 400; Barker 175. 

- 288 - 



For the presence of a temple itself there is no particular 
evidence; indeed it is never mentioned. Since, therefore, its 
existence might be questioned, it is hazardous to attempt with 
Thedenat to determine a date for it, and to speak of it as 
something assured (I). Miss Barker likewise tries to associate a 
temple with the cult by assuming that the one destined for the 
service of Magna Mater was really a sanctuary of Isis. This 
assumption is based on the supposed confusion between the 
two goddesses. But while these had their points of resemblance 
and lived on intimate terms with each other, it is more difficult 
to conceive of a real confusion (2). A® time went on the 
strength and influence of Magna Mater increased daily and 
tended to absorb the activities of less important goddesses. But 
this phenomenon was comparatively late and occurred in fact 
after the destruction of Herculaneum, when there was a notable 
tendency toward syncretism (3). Yet even then we may be 
sure that Isis was in no danger of being submerged ; under the 
Republic and during the first years of the Empire such a pos- 
sibility was extremely remote (4). It is in truth inconceivable 
that the temple at Herculaneum, designated in an official 
inscription as belonging to the « Mother of the gods » should 
have been designed primarily for the use of Isis. Though this 
appellation is employed regularly for Magna Mater, it is not 
adopted for Isis, who is seldom called Isis Mater but frequently 
Isis Regina (5). The latter, however, may have been worshipped 
in some portion of the shrine. 

MAGNA MATER. 

The temple in which the worship of Magna Mater was 
maintained was identified by means of an inscription found on 

(!) Tedenat, PompSi vie publique 70. 

(2) A temple at Brundisdum was consecrated to Magna Mater, Dea Syria 
and Isis. C. /. L. IX, 6099. 

(3) Cp. the statue described by Lafaye 276, No. 40 as a representation of 
Isis identified with Cybele- 

(4) Grtaillot, he culte de Cybele 189; Corcia, Di una votiva staiuetta egi- 
zia in Aiti Nap. II (1866) 75 f. 

(5) Graillot, op. cit. 189 (3); Dessau, Inscriptiones Latinae III, p. 533 
index; Drexler, op. cit. 512, 513; Vaglieri Sylloge epig. II, p. 660 index. 

- 289 - 

19 



the site. This record states that the building had collapsed as 
a result of the earthquake of 63 A. D., and was thereafter 
restored by the aid of the Emperor Vespasian before the middle 
of 76 (1). It was a very large building standing in the quarter 
of the theater and the « basilica », in the very center of public 
life (2). A peculiarity of construction appears in the circum- 
stance that it had apparently two stories. The ceiling of the 
lower one was in the form of a barrel vault richly decorated with 
a multitude of green, red and yellow stars upon a white back- 
ground. Among the small objects found in the neighborhood of 
the shrine were statuettes of Venus, Mercury, Hercules and 
Isis (3). Magna Mater is depicted on a terra cotta lamp in the 
form of a seated figure flanked by lions. In the background 
appear on the one side Attis and on the other a pine tree from 
which cymbals are suspended (4). Every thing points to a 
prosperous cult which had become thoroughly established for 
a considerable time. The temple was one of the leading shrines 
of the city ; for this reason as well as from the fact that Magna 
Mater was highly honored in his birth place Reate, Vespasian 
selected this sanctuary for an early restoration (5). 



(1) C. /. L. X, 1406 = Vaglieri 1287. Imp. Caesax Vespasianus Aug. pon- 
tif. max. trib. pot. VII, imp. XVII, p. p. cos. VII, design. VIII templum Ma- 
tris deum terrae motu conlapsum restituit. Spinazzola, Atti Nap. XXII (1902) 
135 (3) strangely asserts that this inscription was found at Puteoli. 

(2) Graillot 433 states that the temple stood in the quarter of the « ba- 
silica » and the Forum, but these terms seem both to have been used to ex- 
plain the same building. That the central street itself served as a substitute 
for the Forum is refuted by Waldstein 67, 72. 

(3) Waldstein and Shoobridge 72 ; Ruggiero, Scavi di Ercolano XXXVIII ; 
Mau 543. 

(4) Piroli et Piranesi, A ntiquitis d'Hercalanum (ed. 1805) VI, PI. VI, 

No. 4. 

(5) Sil. VIII, 415; Graillot 148. 

- 290 - 



CHAPTER VI, 
NUCERIA, STABIAE, SURRENTUM, CAPREAE 



In the valley of the Rjver Sarnus, which with the mountain- 
ous district between it and the sea forms the southeastern corner 
of the Campanian territory, were situated in ancient times three 
cities Ppmpeii, Stabiae, and Nuceria. The two former were 
quite near the coast, occuying the same relative position with 
regard to the third city farther in the interior, which was situated 
about twelve Roman miles distant from both. Stabiae, which 
soon lost its existence as a separate municipality, was located 
not far from the modern town; called Castellamare di Stabia, 
which by its official designation still shows its relation to its 
ancient ancestor. The ground here is full of mineral springs, — 
a circumstance that caused it to become a health resort in 
Roman times and to be the site of many villas. 

Nuceria, which was always more important than Stabiae, 
stood a little to the west of the present town of Nocera in a very 
important spot, because in this vicinity was the junction of a 
series of main lines of communication. Here the great highway 
connecting Capua and Rhegium was intersected by roads from 
the coast cities Neapolis, Stabiae, and Salernum. As a result of 
its favorable location and its liberal treatment at the hands of 
the Romans, it remained during the later Republic the metrop- 
olis of southeastern Campania (I). 

When Nuceria and Stabiae first present themselves in his- 
tory in the fifth century B. C, they are peopled by a Samnite 
population. Even then Nuceria was the leading city of the 
Sarnus valley and the head of an Oscan confederacy embracing 

(!) Beloch 246 f. ; Nissen, It Landeskunde II, 766; Cosenza, Stabia 91 f. 

* 291 - 



not only Stabiae but also the kindred cities of Surrentum, 
Pompeii and Herculaneum. As a result, these various places 
are without an individual history of their own in the early times ; 
likewise none of the dependent members of the league attempted 
to coin money. 

During the period of the Samnite wars Nuceria was at 
first neutral, then at variance with Rome, but was finally obliged 
to surrender to Quintus Fabius (308 B. C.). At the capitulation 
however, the city obtained very favorable terms on a line with 
those given to the neighboring Greek cities, and ever after 
remained loyal to the Romans. Its inhabitants resisted Hannibal 
until constrained by hunger to capitulate in 216 B. C, and 
were then forced to seek new homes until the restoration of 
peace. The Social War marked the end of the relations between 
Nuceria and its tributaries along the coast, as the latter declined 
to continue the policy of friendliness toward Rome. In the 
ensuing struggle Stabiae was destroyed (89 B. C); the other 
members of the confederation became entirely independent of 
Nuceria, but this city as a compensation received the land for- 
merly belonging to Stabiae and continued to be a flourishing 
community. 

Its prosperity was somewhat marred by the attacks of the 
gladiators in the Servile War, and after the battle of Philippi 
the triumvirs appropriated tracts of land for their veterans. The 
colony, called Nuceria Constant ia, received other settlers of 
the same class under Nero (57 A. D.). Nuceria itself suffered 
little from the earthquakes of the first century A. D., but the 
country around Stabiae was badly damaged and here the elder 
Pliny was killed. As a result when the village was rebuilt, it 
was located on the sea, where now stands Castellamare. At the 
beginning of the Middle Ages a battle took place here between 
the Goths and the Byzantines (533 A. D.) (1). 

APOLLO. 

The male head wearing a wreath of laurel which appears 
on certain bronze coins of Nuceria, was identified by early 

(I) Beloch 239-243; Mommsenn, C. /. L. X, p. 124; Cosenza, Stabia 116 
f . ; De Petra, / porti antichi delVltalia meridionale 328. 

- 292 - 



numismatists as a likeness of Apollo, but the more recent 
authorities regard this identification as dubious (1). Even though 
the appearance of Apollo is admitted, it may be explained as 
an imitation of the coinage of Neapolis (2). Yet, as the cult of 
this god had become well established generally along the Cam- 
panian coast, it doubtless possessed a shrine here. 

DIOSCURI. 

The figure of a youthful horseman, probably one of the 
Twin Brethren, is regularly found upon the obverse of silver 
coins, and that of two galloping horsemen appears sometimes 
upon money minted in bronze. The identification of these fig- 
ures however, as representations of the Dioscuri is no longer 
considered as altogether certain, and there is no other evidence 
to prove the existence of a cult (3). 

JUNO. 

Juno is known to have had a temple outside the walls sur- 
rounded by a sacred grove; from it an omen was reported 
when the Cimbri were invading Italy. The top of an elm tree 
had been cut off and laid upon an altar in the temenos, when 
suddenly it gave signs of life, a token — as was proved by the 
result — of a revival in the fortunes of the Romari people (4). 
This evidence shows that the shrine was prominent at the end 
of the second century B. C. According to Otto it was a Roman 
foundation erected after the conquest of Nuceria by the Ro- 
mans. He sees an evidence for this opinion in the omen itself, 

(1) L. Sambon, Monn. de la presq'ile italique 165; A. Sambon Les monn. 
ant de Vlt. 384, No. 1014, 1015; Head 41. 

(2) Beloch 245. 

(3) L. Sambon 165; A. Sambon 378, 381-384; Head 41 ; Helbig, Die Cas- 
fores in Hermes XL (1905) 103; Garrucci 97; Dubois 199 (2); Albert, he Culte 
de Castor et Pollux en Italie 140, No. 90. 

(4) Plin. nat. XVI, 132: Factum hoc populi Romani Quiritibus ostentum 
Cimbricis bellis Nuceriae in luco Iunonis ulmo, postquam etiam cacumen am- 
putatum erat, quoniam in aram ipsam procumbebat, restituta sponte ita ut 
protinus floreret, a quo deinde tempore maiestas populi Romani resurrexit quae 
ante uastata cladibus fuerat. Roscber, Juno Roscher II, 605. 

- 293 - 



which seems to show a sympathy on the part of the goddess for 
Rome her place of origin (I). But while Roman influence 
undoubtedly existed here as in other places during the period 
of alliance, we may question whether it was as yet strong enough 
to cause the adoption of many cults. We would also expect 
these to be introduced into the town itself, if they represented 
an important innovation. But this sanctuary stood outside the 
town, and probably represented an old cult like that of Diana 
near Capua. The importance of the omen, which caused it to 
be especially noted and observed, depended largely on the 
fact that it came from a shrine of venerable antiquity. 

This is the only reference to the cult of Juno at Nuceria, 
though some scholars have seen an allusion to the divinity of 
this place in the phrase luno Sarrana employed by Silius (2). 
This view first appears in an article by Miner vini, who used 
it to prove the existence of a place called Sarro, peopled by 
the Sarrastes, an ancient race who are said once to have dwelt 
in these parts (3). Later Beloch and recently Cosenza state as 
a fact that Juno Sarrana was worshipped at Nuceria (4). But 
whatever truth there may be in the report that the Sarrastes once 
lived here, the term Sarrana of this passage has no reference 
to these people or to this locality. It means pertaining to Sarra, 
a name for the city of Tyre, and is applied not only to the 
Tyrians but to the Carthaginians, a use that is regular in Si- 
lius (5). The phrase Sarrana Juno occurs in an invocation of 
gods made by Regulus as security for a return to imprisonment 

(1) Otto, luno in Philologus LXIV (1905) 173. 

(2) Sil. VI, 466-469: 

Turn palmas simul attollens ac lumina caelo: 
iustitiae rectique dator, qui cuncta gubernas, 
nee leuior mini diua Fides Sarranaque luno, 
quos reditus testes iurata mente uocaui 

(3) Minervini, Intorno ad alcuni dolii di terracotta rinvenuti vicino il Sarno 
in Bull Nap. n. s. VII (1858) 82-83. 

(4) Beloch 244; Cosenza, Stabia 164. 

(5) See Sarra in the Lexicon of Lewis and Short. The adjective Sarranus 
occurs ten times in Silius always with this meaning ; among them is the phrase 
San ana numina referring to the introduction of Carthaginian deities into Italy 
and meaning especially the cult of Anna identified as Dido's sister. Full list 
in the index to Bauer's Silius Italicus p. 240. 

- 294 - 



at Carthage; the poet adopts it because of Juno's pro-Cartha- 
ginian sympathies and because it makes an appropriate deity for 
his hero to swear by. On the other hand it would be wholly 
unnatural to represent Regulus as swearing by the local divinity 
of a Campanian provincial town never of first rate importance. 
Although this shrine was sufficiently prominent to cause its 
prodigies to be noted by the Romans at the end of the second 
century B. C, it could not be associated with the Romans in the 
epoch of Regulus. Juno Sarrana is plainly a Carthaginian god- 
dess, the celebrated female deity who was usually identified 
with Juno but sometimes with other divinities (1). 

The temple has been located between the towns of Nocera 
and Pagani at a place called Campodara (Arae Campus ?), 
where remains were found, but this identification is extremely 
dubious (2). 

SARNUS AND EPIDIUS. 

A local hero Sarnus seems to have been associated with 
the river bearing that name and to have been worshipped like 
the river god Sebethus at Neapolis. His cult, however, was 
more important than that of the Neapolitan deity. His name 
appears in the tide Colonia Sarnensis Mileu, which was one 
of the settlements made by P. Sittius of Nuceria near Cirta in 
Numidia under the authority of Julius Caesar. As Venus and 
Minerva, who gave their names to other colonies of the same 
Sitius, were the leading deities respectively at Pompeii and 
Surrentum, so Sarnus must be considered as the tutelary divi- 
nity of Nuceria (3). Millingen believed that this hero was 
represented on the obverse of the silver coins of Nuceria, where 
a young man's head is portrayed with flowing hair and the 
horns of a ram (4). 



(1) Andollent, Carthage rotnaine 371 (2) does not include this passage in 
his citations from the poets who identify the tutelary goddess of Carthage with 
Juno. 

(2) Orlando, Storia di Nocera de Pagani, 1, 167. 
0) Wilmanns, C. /. L. VIII, pp. 618, 701. 

(4) Millingen, Considerations sur la numismatique de Vancienne Italie 
198. Cp. Waser, Flussgotter, P.-W. VI, 2810; Hofer, Sarnus, Roscher IV, 387. 

- 295 - 



Some numismatists on the other hand have associated this 
figure with that of another local divinity, the hero Epidius, 
who was connected with the same river, and very likely was 
not always distinguished from the real river god Sarnus because 
of the similarity of their attributes (1). According to a legend 
transmitted by Suetonius a certain Epidius, an ancestor of the 
Augustan rhetorician of that name, tumbled into the waters of 
the Sarnus, showed himself momentarily with the addition of 
a pair of horns, and then disappeared forever. As a result of 
this accident, a new god was added to the local divinities by 
the superstitious populace (2). The circumstance that he 
showed himself with horns indicates according to Wissowa a 
Greek origin for this tale (3). It has been suggested, although 
without any particular proof, that a colossal equestrian statue 
of the hero stood in the city and that this was known popularly 
as « the big horse )>. This supposition is intended to explain the 
allusion to such a horse set up by a prominent citizien, M. 
Virtius Ceraunus, a municipal official (4). 

DIONYSUS. 

The head of the young man with ram's horns which has 
been discussed in the preceding paragraphs has likewise been 
regarded as a likeness of the African Dionysus, who may be 
represented on the coinage of Cyrene. But the horned figure on 
the money of the African city may be disposed of by other 
interpretations (5). 



(1) Avellino, Num. anecd. 22; Minervini, Osservazioni 45; Cavedoni, 
Bull. Inst. 1839, 138; Garrucci 96. A summary of the different interpretations 
of this figure is given by A. Sambon 1, 378. 

(2) Suet. 4, 6. The letters epid in an inscription found at Pompeii can 
scarcely refer to this hero. Conway, Italic Dialects 1, p. 66. 

(3) Wissowa, Gesam. Abhandl. 135 (1). Cp. Peter, Epidius, Roscher 1, 
1282; Miinzer, Epidius (1), P.-W. VI, 58. 

(4) C. /. L. X, 1081 = D. 6446; Cavedoni, Bull Inst 1840, 142. 

(5) A. Sambon 379; Thramer, Dionysos in der Kunst, Roscher 1, 51; 
Head 865 considers that the figure on the coins of Cyrene was intended to 
represent Aristaeus. 

- 296 - 



ROMAN CULTS. 

Almost no information has reached us about the specifically 
Roman cults, which must have developed during the Empire. 
The Augustales, composed chiefly or wholly of freedmen, flour 
ished, but aside from a few names little is known about their 
activities (1). The most important was a certain Caesius (?) 
Daphnus, who held the same office in another town, the name 
of which has been lost. He aided the community by a restora- 
tion of the temple of the Genius at Stabiae (2). A mutilated 
inscription, cited by Cosenza as unpublished, apparently 
contained the names of two menbers of this organization (3). 
A gladiatorial notice advertising games to be held at Nuceria 
Constantia in honor of the divinity of one of the Emperors 
contains the mention of a flamen connected with the Imperial 
cult who provided the amusements offered at this time (4). 
This individual seems also to have filled the post of Augustalis ; 
he is dated by Mau and Zangemeister as not later than the 
reign of Tiberius. 

CHRISTIANITY. 

The Martyr ology to which the name of Jerome has been at- 
tached mentions three martyrs belonging to this community, — 
Priscian, Felix and Constantia. The first named martyr has been 
identified with the bishop of Nuceria to whom reference is 
made by Paulinus of Nola (5). Felix and Constantia have 

(1) C. /. L. X, 452: N. Ahius Successus Augustalis Nuceriae Maiciae 
MeToe coiugi et sibi cum qua uixit etc.; X, 1083; T. Cellio T. 1. In gen 

August(alis) optimo patrono T. Gellius T. 1. Ingen ; X, 1084: M. Genicius 

Menecrates Aug. sibi et Acciae Maximae ux, et suis. 

(2) X, 772, D. 5416. As the name of the missing town Nok is sometimes 
supplied, but also Capua, Gaudium, Cumae, Stabiae, Beloch admits the pos- 
sibility of any supplement save the last, Arch. star. nap. II (1877) 293. 

(3) Cosenza, Raccolta di antichita stabiane in Rend. Nap. XIV (1900) 146. 

(4) C. /. L. IV, 3882 and the annotation of Zangemeister and Mau. 

(5) Pseudo-Jerome, Martyrologium uetus Sept. 16, 20; Paulinus of Nola, 
Carmina XIX, 515: 

Forte sacrata dies inluxerat ilia beati 
natalem Prisci referens, quern et Nola celebrat 
quamuis ille alia Nucerinus episcopus urbe 

sederit. Lanzoni, he origini del cristianesimo nella Campania ro- 
mana in Riv. storico-crit. delle scienze teol. VI (1910) 281. 

- 297 - 



been assigned to the reign of Nero, but the references to saints 
who suffered under Nero are suspicious, and their assignment 
to this period was probably arbitrary (1). The city was appar- 
ently an episcopal see before the reign of Diocletian. 

STABIAE. 

When Stabiae was captured by Sulla during the Social 
War, its existence as an autonomous municipality was brought 
to an end, and its territory was placed under the jurisdiction of 
Nuceria (2). As a tributary district, it was doubtless treated as 
a pagus and administered by magistri, who after the institution 
of the cult of Augustus devoted themselves mostly to his ser- 
vice (3). One of these officials is mentioned in an inscription 
discovered on the front of a small Lararium, where stood a 
bust of the Empress Li via. The inscription was due to a f reed- 
man Antheros Heracleo, who followed the profession of an 
actor; it records a dedication to the Lares and household 
gods (4). 

GENIUS. 

After Stabiarum had ceased to have a separate municipal ex- 
istence, its temples were maintained as before, but were now 
subject to the regulations of the decurions of Nuceria. Only 
one of these cults, that of the Genius Stabiae, is definitely 
established by the testimony of epigraphical evidence. It was 
housed in a temple which under the Empire needed restoration, 
and was rebuilt with the means of a rich Augustalis of Nuceria, 
who has been cited above (5). It is assumed by Beloch that 
the first temple was a survival from the Oscan period and dated 
before the time of Sulla. Cosenza on the contrary denies that 
the sanctuary dated as far back as the days of Samnite suprem- 

(1) Lanzoni, loc. cit; Orlando, Storia di Nocera de Pagani 219 f. Cp. 
210 L 

(2) Beloch 248; Cosenza, Siahia 159 f. 

(3) Cp. p. 207. 

(4) C. /. L. X, 773, Vaglieri 1132: Anteros 1, Heracleo summiar(um), 
mag(ister) Larib. et fiamil. d.d. 

(5) C. J. L. X, 772, D. 54J6:....Aesius Daphnus Augustal. Nuceriae 
et aedem Geni Stabiar. delapsis marmoribus uexata aede restituit. 

- 298 - 



acy; he considers that the temple was more recent, and was 
restored only after the earthquake of 63 (1). The latter part of 
this supposition, that the rebuilding of the temple falls in the 
period 63-79 A. D. is doubtless true and is borne out by the 
character of the inscription. But it is more difficult to believe 
that a community without any organic existence would erect a 
temple to its own Genius. Such a sanctuary suits better the 
semi-independent municipality before the Social War, which 
was nominally in alliance with Rome and familiar with the 
Roman conception of the tutelary Genius of the city-state. 

Though the exact location of the shrine is unknown, it 
appears to have stood a short distance east of the present town 
of Castellamare on the road to Nocera. Here remains of walls 
and architectural fragments were discovered, hut movable 
objects of value had been carried away before the eruption of 
Vesuvius in 79 (2). The plan of the temple inserted in Rosini's 
work entitled Dissertatio isagogica can not, as Cosenza points 
out, have reference to the sanctuary of the Genius, because the 
reports of the excavations in this region indicate that it was not 
completely unearthed (3). 

HERCULES. 

The older antiquarians who treated the archeology of Sta- 
biae claimed without warrant that the city derived its name 
from the myth of Hercules, who stopped here on his return 
from Spain and left his ships at anchor on the coast (4). It is true 
that the name of this god was attached to some point in this 
vicinity that was called Petra Herculis. Some antiquarians sup- 
posed that this was situated beyond Monte S. Angelo toward 



(1) Beloch 249; Cosenza, Stabia 135 f. The date of this earthquake is 
discussed by Chabert, MSlanges Boissier 115. 

(2) In the fondo Pellicano west of the church of the Madonna delle 
grazie. Cp. Cosenza 136-139. 

(3) Rosini, Dissertatio isagogica ad Herculanensium uoluminum expla- 
nationem pars prima 88 and PI. 18; Ruggiero, Scavi di Stabia 186; Cosenza 137. 

(4) Capaccio, Historia Neapolitana II, 105; Corcia, Storia delle due 
Sicilie II, 139. 

- 299 - 



Surrentum, where stands the modern town Vico Equense (1). 
But it is generally thought that it should be identified with cer- 
tain rocks at the mouth of the Sarnus to which the name Revi- 
gliano has been applied (2). In the sixteenth century a small 
bronze image of the god was found here, but as Beloch justly 
observed, this is a very slight evidence on which to base an 
identification. Milante devotes the greater part of a page to 
prove the existence of a temple here, but this matter is mostly 
irrelevant (3). Cosenza rightly rejects the theories of the anti- 
quarians just mentioned, but he admits too readily the existence 
of a temple of Hercules at Stabiae, for which there is no 
proof (4). 

PLUTO. 

Near Castellamare at the foot of the hill called Varano 
is an oblong cavern with two entrances hewn in the rock near 
which various remains of small objects were found. Milante 
compared it to the oracle of Trophonius, which Pausanias de- 
scribes as existent at Lebadea in Boeotia, and it was probably 
consecrated to Pluto or some other chthonic deity. With the 
advent of Christianity it retained its character of sanctity, but 
was assigned to a new master; henceforth St. Blasius was the 
guardian of the place. The spot is called Carmiano, an appel- 
lation which is generally derived from the word carmina, 
applied to the ancient responses of the oracle (5). 

UNCERTAIN CULTS. 

The evidence cited for other cults is not convincing. An 
altar of white marble exhibiting the figure of a deer's head 

(1) Plin. not. XXXII, \7 : In Stabiano Campaniae aid Herclis Petram 
melanuri panem abiectum in mare rapiunt, iidem ad nullum cibum in quo 
hamus sit accedunt. Pelegrino, Discorsi I, 348; Barascandolo, Lettera suW anti- 
quity della citta d'Equa 91. 

(2) Capasso, Topogr. storico-arch. della penisola sorrentina 8; 31 f. 

(3) Beloch 251 ; Milante, De Stabiis, Stabiana ecclesia et episcopis eius 8. 

(4) Cosenza 120 (2), 125 (1). Cp. 164 and Corcia, op. cit. II, 429. 

(5) Milante, op. cit. 13 with a picture of the grotto PI. IF; Capasso 2; 
Beloch 251; Trede, Das Heidentum in der rb'm. Kirche I, 110. 

- 300 - 



encircled by a crown composed of various fruits has been used 
as testimony for the evistence of a cult and temple of Diana (1). 
Cosenza, following the lead of earlier antiquarians, argues for 
the worship of Neptune whose accepted sacrifice was a horse. 
Supposed evidence for cults of Ceres and Janus is valueless (2). 

ORIENTAL CULTS. 

No evidence has been found for the presence of the va- 
rious pagan religions of the Orient save some references to Isis 
worship which appear in wall decorations. They consist of a 
bearded priest wearing a long robe and a priestess clad in sim- 
ilar garments, whose hands support a peculiar vessel shaped 
like the beak of a bird (3). There is no direct testimony for the 
presence of a Christian community. On the site of the Cathe- 
dral of Castellamare, however, Christian epitaphs were discov- 
ered in 1878, which De Rossi assigned to the age of Constan- 
tine or earlier (4). 



(1) Milante 8; Capasso 21. 

(2) Cosenza 165; Capasso 20, 27; Milante 9, 12. The inscription used 
by Milante to prove a cult of Ceres belongs elsewhere. 

(3) Helbig, Wandgemalde der von Vesuv verschiitieten Stadte Cam- 
paniens Nos. 1908 ,1101; Masco Borbonico X, PI. 55, No. 2; Cosenza 188 
No. 42; Lafaye, Histoire du culte des divinUSs d'Alexandrie 330, Nos. 227-28. 

(4) De Rossi, Bull arch, crist. 1879, 118 f . ; Lanzoni, op. cit. 285. 

- 301 - 



SURRENTUM. 

Surrentum, the modern Sorrento, was located on the northern 
shore of the mountainous peninsula that juts out from the 
southern part of the Campanian coast, thus separating the 
Bay of Naples from the Bay of Salerno. Its territory, which 
was of no great extent, was divided from the Sarnus valley 
By the range of mountains, which is known today as Monte 
S. Angelo; on the southeast its borders touched the land of 
Salernum. It was a district of picturesque scenery, which 
nevertheless produced important crops of olives and wine. 
In the days of the Empire the region was covered with villas, 
and the town thrived by reason of the volume of commerce 
which passed through its port en route for Capreae. As the 
city from its inaccessible position was little liable to attack, 
it enjoys the rare distinction of never having been destroyed. 
Consequently the arrangement of the streets has probably 
never been materially altered, and it may be taken for granted 
that the ancient town was systematically laid out (1). 

Legends associate this neighborhood with Ulysses and the 
Sirens, and the place was long a center of Greek influence, - 
a circumstance pointing to a colonization of which no record 
has been preserved. In the fifth century B. C. it appears under 
the domination of the Samnites, probably as one of the league 
which acknowledged Nuceria as its head. At the close of the 
Social War it may have received a colony composed of Sulla's 
veterans. During the early Empire it is scarcely mentioned 
save in connection with the banishment of Agrippina, and 
after the reign of Tiberius it drops out of history entirely till 
the end of the Empire (2). 

The gods who were honored here are attested almost 

(1) Beloch 258, 264; Nissen, It Landesk. II, 767. 

(2) Beloch 252-254, 434; Mommsen, C. /. L. X, p. 76; Pais, Ancient 
Italy 222 f. ; Ricerche stor. e geog. 282. 

- 302 - 



solely by literary evidence, as the epigraphical material from 
this vicinity is very scanty. Furthermore no coins of Surrentum 
have been found ; at one time a number of numismatists thought 
that the coinage of the unknown Oscan town of Hyria should 
be assigned to Surrentum, but this hypothesis was long ago 
abandoned (I). It should also be observed that the seats of the 
various forms of worship are generally not located in the town 
itself, but are scattered over the whole peninsula. 

PRE-ROMAN CULTS, THE SIRENS. 

One of the earliest and long the most celebrated cult in 
the neighborhood of Surrentum was that of the Sirens, who 
were connected both with the promontory and with the group 
of rocky islands off the southern coast, which today bear the 
name of Li Galli. 

Either these rocks or the cliffs along the coast are referred 
to by Vergil in his account of the voyage of Aeneas from 
Sicily to Italy; they are called « dangerous » and described 
as « whitened with the bones of men » (2). Pomponius Mela 
makes a similar allusion with a direct mention of the islands 
as distinguished from the mainland (3). Statius occasionally 
associated the Sirens with this peninsula (4). Strabo speaks of 
the shrine itself as located on one side of it, opposite to that 
part which faces the islands, and adds elsewhere that the 
temple gave its name to the peninsula (5). Likewise Pseudo- 

(1) A. Sambon I, 293 with references to earlier works. 

(2) Verg. A en V, 864: 

Iamque adeo scopulos Sirenum aduecta subibant 
dimciles quondam multorumque ossibus albos. 
Cp. Dionysius Perig. 357 and the commentary of Eustathius; Berard, Lea 
Phiniciens ei VOdyssee II, 341 ; Champault, Pheniciens et Grecs en Italie 
454; Dcuglas, Siren Land 40 f. 

(3) Mela II, 69: Petrae quas Sirenes habitarunt, Mineruae promuntu- 
rium Gruppe 362 makes th's reference pertain to Terina, but as the geo- 
grapher names the rocks immediately after Silerus amnis and Picentia and 
just before the Mineruae promunturium, he can scarcely be referring to that 

city. 

(4) Stat. ail. 1,2, 116; II, 2, 1 ; III, 1, 64. But in Silvae III, 3, 174 the 

reference is to the rocks of Pelorum in Sicily. 

(5) Strab. 1, 2, 12* 

- 303 - 



Aristotle and following him Stephanus of Byzantium in similar 
words mention both the islands and the shrine, where the 
Sirens Parthenope, Leucosia, Ligeia were zealously adored 
with sacrifices by the inhabitants of the surounding territory (I) 
Such references to their cult and shrine depend ultimately on 
Timaeus (2). The region called Mons Sirenianus in the Liber 
Coloniarum seems to have been consecrated in ancient times 
to these creatures; after their shrine declined in importance the 
tract of land was in part allotted to colonists, but it is more 
questionable that a portion, as claimed by Pais, was bestowed 
upon Minerva (3). 

The sound of the waves dashing against the shores of the 
peninsula and the real difficulties encountered by the mariner 
in the stretch of sea between it and Capri appealed strongly 
to the imagination and created the legends of the goddesses 
who strove to beguile with the winsome melody of song (4). 
They are first \mentioned in the Odyssey. They were quite 
vaguely conceived, and the stories in circulation about them 
were not always consistent; yet they were generally regarded 
here as winged females rather than partially humanized 
birds (5). In fact they were reputed originally to have been 
three sisters who were drowned in the waters that washed 
this shore. For that reason their spirits were doubtless reverenced 
as chthonic deities (6). Furthermore they were associated in 
myth with Proserpina by the Greeks of southern Italy and 
Sicily. According to one account they were playing with her 
when she was kidnapped, and because they had not resisted 



(1) Pseudo-Arist, de mir. ausc. 103. Stephanus of Byzantium Ssip^voSaai. 

(2) Beloch 276; Weiker, Seirenen, Roscher IV, 607; and Der Seelen- 
vogel 61. 

(3) Liber coloniarum (Die Schriften der rom. Feldmesser p. 236). Pais 
Ancimt Italy 223, Ricerche stor. e geog. 2b3. 

(4) Odyssey XII, 154-200; Berard, Les PUniciens ei VOdyssSe II, 331; 
Michel, Sirenes, D.-S. IV, 1353; De Petra, Partenope Sicula in Miscellanea 
Salinas 82 f. 

(5) Michel, loc. cit . ; De Petra, Le Sirene del mar tirreno in Atti Nap. 
XXV (1908) part I, 14; Douglas, Siren Land 19; Patroni Intorno al mito della 
Sirene 4. 

(6) See p. 174. 

- 304 - 



her abduction were metamorphosed by her mother into 
birds (1). 

On account of the reputed powers of the Sirens it was 
necessary to keep them appeased, and we can be sure that 
their cult prospered on account of this belief. We learn in fact 
that a notable collection of venerable dedications was on 
display in their shrine at an early day (2). Other localities 
had a shrine where a single Siren was worshipped, as Neapolis 
was devoted to the cult of Parthenope, but nowhere else within 
historical times were the Sirens worshipped collectively as 
major deities either in Italy or in another part of the Greek 
world (3). 

Although the ancient authors were struck by the magnifi- 
cence of the cult carried on in honor of the Sirens, they failed 
to set down enough definite information to determine exactly 
its location. From the passage of Strabo already cited we learn 
that it stood on the northern side of the peninsula. Statius, 
while speaking of the poetical efforts of his friend Pollius, says 
that on the one hand he had for audience the Siren dwelling 
upon the cliffs of the sea and on the other the goddess 
Athena (4). From this brief suggestion we may gather that the 
temple was on the shore not very remote from Athena's shrine 
at the end of the peninsula, - a view borne out by the obscure 
statements of the Liber Coloniarum, which associates the places 
consecrated to these two cults (5). 

Starting from these indications modern scholars have come 
to different conclusions about the precise location. Capasso, 
who studied exhaustively the topography of this region, placed 
it on the coast between Sorrento and the village of Massa 
Lubrense, which is three and a half miles nearer the end of 



(1) Hyg. Jab. 141 ; Ov. met. V, 554; De Petra, he Sirene del Mar 77r- 
reno in Atti Nap. XXV (1908) part I, 12; Lenormant, Ceres, D.-S. I, 1032. 
Cp. Eurip. Helena 175 f . ; Patroni, op. cit. 8. 

(2) Stiab. V, 4, 8. 

(3) So Terina and Poaidonia each had a S'ren. Weicker, Seirenen, Ra- 
ncher IV, 607. 

(4) Sfeat. sil. II, 2, 116. 

(5) Liber Coloniarum (Lachmann p. 236). 

- 305 - 

20 



the peninsula (1). Beloch located it still farther west on the 
site of the church called S. Maria della Lobbra, which is quite 
near the village of Massa. This identification is favored by 
the epithet of the church, which like that of the town, must 
be derived from the Latin delubrum (2). 

The claims of a neighboring site have recently been 
advocated by Pais, who has presented some archaeological 
evidence for his identification, and calls attention to the fact 
that the cult of S. Maria della Lobbra has occupied its present 
site only since the sixteenth century (3). The coast below 
Massa Lubrense between Capo Masso and Capo Corno forms 
a little harbor; near it upon a slight elevation are the remains 
of a mediaeval church, whose services were later transferred 
to the S. Maria della Lobbra mentioned in the preceding 
paragraph* In the ground forming this hill were unearthed a 
number of ancient marbles including pieces of statues and 
architectural fragments. Among these objects was a part of an 
archaic head, which Pais is inclined to associate with the 
dedications of the shrine of the Sirens, and to consider either 
as one of the venerable originals or a later copy. Moreover 
the cult of the Virgin as a protectress of seamen had 
characteristics here in the Middle Ages that may well have 
been transmitted from the rites of the pagan shrine (4). 

ATHENA-MINERVA. 

Despite the fact that the cult of the Sirens had impressed 
itself so strongly upon this locality that the latter was called 
by their name, the rival cult of Athena more and more made 
its influence felt in the designations applied to the same region, 

(1) Capasso, Memorie storico-archeologiche deNa penisoja sorrentina, 51 f. 

(2) Beloch 275. The other circumstance adduced to support this opinion, 
that an old tradition connected €he site with a temple, is more questionable, 
in view of the many false indentifications of churches «or ruins with temples. 
Douglas, Siren Land 18; Gargiullo, Memorie della r. accad. ercol. I, 322. 

(3) Pais, The Temple of the Sirens in the Sorrentine Peninsula in A,. J. 
A. IX (1905) 1 f.; Ancient Italy 213 f. 

(4) Serafino Montorio, Zodiaco di Maria (1713) 199, quoted by Pais 
Ancient Italy 216; Cp. Trede, Das Heidentum in der rom. Kirche IV, 172. 

- 306 - 



which was called Athenaion or Promunturium Mineruae (f). 
In the third century B. C. to judge from the evidence based 
upon Timaeus, the Sirens were still supreme at Surrentum but 
were gradually outstripped in popularity by Minerva. From the 
first she was supported by a large assignment of land, similar 
to that which was allotted to the Sirens. This was occupied 
by tenants of Greek nationality (2). As early as the beginning 
of the second century B. C. her shrine was widely known and 
had attracted the attention of the Roman government. Thus 
in 172 B. C. when the naval trophies of the First Punic War 
upon the Capitoline had been struck by lightning and the 
event was considered as a serious omen, one of the places 
where the Senate ordered expiation to be made was at the 
temple of Minerva near Surrentum (3). At the close of the 
Republic and under the Empire this temple was easily first 
in public esteem. When P. Sittius of Nuceria planted his 
colonies in Numidia with the authorization of [Julius Caesar, 
and desired to honor the towns of his home district along 
with their leading deities in the names applied to his settlements, 
he selected the title Colonic Mineruia Chullu for the one 
asociated with Surrentum (4). Statius likewise refers to 
Minerva as representing th£ region of Surrentum when he 
enumerates the localities which sent pupils to listen to his 
father's instruction, and Pliny speaks of the peninsula as the 
former home of the Sirens (5). The increasing prominence of 
Minerva was a natural development. While the Sirens suggested 
the malevolent spirits of the sea, Minerva stood especially for 
its beneficent influence. She gained in importance as the art 

(!) Strab. 1, 2, 12; V. 4, 8; Tabula Peuiingerana C. 1. L. X, p. 58, 
Templum Mineruae. 

(2) Liber Coloniarum: Surrentum, oppidum. Ager eius ex occupatione 
tenebatur a Grecis ob consecrationem Mineruae. Sed et mons Sirenianus li- 
mitibus pro parte Augustianis est adsignatus; ceterum in soluto remansit. 
Iter populo debetur ubi Sirenae. 

(3) Liv. XLII, 20, 3: Decemuiri lustrandum oppidi, supplicationem 
obsecrationemque habendam, uictimis maioribus sacrificandum et in Capitolio 
Romae et in Campania ad Mineruae Promunturium renuntiarunt. Cp. Reitz- 
enstein, Ined. poem. gr. jrag. 10. 

(4) C. I. L. VIII, 6710, 6711. Cp. Beloch 241. 

(5) Stat, sil V, 3, 162; Pirn, nat. Ill, 62. 

- 307 - 



of navigation improved and reason encroached upon superstition. 
She had the same function as that . exercised by Leucothea in 
other places (1). 

The goddess originally worshipped here was unquestion- 
ably the Greek Athena. As Statius in the passages cited above 
speaks of her as Tyrrhena Minerua, it has been supposed, as 
by Miiller-Deeke, that the origin of the cult was Etruscan; 
the phrase, however, adopted by the poet in this case refers 
merely to the power exercised by the divinity over the Tuscan 
Sea (2). The age of the cult is dubious; according to tradition 
the shrine was of extreme antiquity and had been founded by 
Ulysses, yet the tendency to associate all the coast of southern 
Italy with this hero makes the reference of little value (3). More 
likely it was introduced considerably later, when the worship 
of the Sirens had already attained a flourishing condition, and 
in consequence had to contend long for supremacy. The view 
that the temple was due to the Cumeans is unfounded, as 
they seem not to have been much interested in the worship 
of Athena at least in the earlier period (4). Pais, who has 
treated fully the question of the origin of the cult, considers that 
it came from Syracuse largely through the intervention of the 
mariners from Lipara, who on the one hand maintained friend- 
ly relations with their Dorian kinsmen in the great Sicilian 
city and on the other showed a predilection for the port of 
Surrentum above any other in Campania (5). The temple, 
situated upon a high promontory overlooking the sea, was the 
seat of a goddess who was primarily a patron of navigators and 
therefore belonged to the same class of shrines as the temples 
of Athena at Syracuse and on Capo Sallentino. As at Syracuse, 
so at Surrentum the passing traveler poured out libations in her 



(1) Pais, 'Arch. Stor. Nap. XXV (1900) 353. Ancient Italy 231, Ricerche 
stor. e geog. 291-2; Douglas, Siren Land 280. 

(2) Mullex-Deecke, Die Etrusker II, 47; Wissowa, Minerva, Roschex 
II, 2983. 

(3) Strab. V. 4, 8; Pfister, Der Rdliquienkult im Altertum 16. 

(4) Gargiulo, Memorie della r. accad. ercol. I, 327. 

(5) Pais, Ancient Italy 221 f . ; Ricerche stor. e geog. 281 f. 

- 308 - 



honor (1). The maritime character of the divinity is also shown 
by the expiation made at her temple, which has been already 
recorded. This was performed in the interests of the Roman 
naval forces made up principally at this time of vessels contrib- 
uted by the cities of southern Italy, particulary Neapolis. 
Minerva was recognized on other occasions as a deity interest- 
ed in the welfare of the Roman fleet, and the ceremonies to 
counteract the omen were therefore appropriately assigned to 
her important temple in the vicinity of Neapolis (2). 

The location of the temple can be determined with consid- 
erable accuracy from notices in the authors. It stood on the 
point of Campanella at the extremity of the peninsula in close 
proximity to Capreae and is mentioned in connection with 
that island by Seneca and Statius (3). According to all accounts 
it was located on a high point near the sea. The unknown poet 
in Seneca describes it as towering upon a storm-swept peak ; 
Statius, as perched upon lofty rocks, whence the goddess 
enjoyed an unrestricted view over the low-lying sea (4). The 
temple long maintained its prominence and its site retained the 
ancient name in the early mediaeval period (5). No remains are 

(1) Stat, ail III, 2, 2 J -24; Polemo in Athenaeus XI, 462b; Pais, An- 
cient Italy 228, Ricerche stor. e geog. 288 and Sioria della Sicilia f Appendix 
XI, 554 .Ciaceri, Culti e miti della Sicilia 155, 223, while recognizing that the 
ceremony at Syracuse had some connection with Athena makes it refer pri- 
marily to Dionysus. 

(2) Pais, 'Ancient Italy 229-30, Ricerche stor. e geog. 289. Cp. Roscher, 
Athena, Roscher I, 675 f. 

(3) Stat. Ml III, 2, 22-24: 

Prima salutauit Capreas et margine dextro 
sparsit Tyrrhenae Marcotica uina Mineruae. 
Sen. epist. X, 1 : 

Cum intrauere Capreas et promunturium ex quo 
alta procelloso speculatur uertice Pallas 
ceterae uelo tubentur esse contentae. 

(4) Sen. loc. cti. ; Stat, sil II, 2, 1 : 

Est inter notos Sirenum nomine muros 
saxaque Tyrrhenae templis onerata Mineruae 
celsa Dicharchei speculatrix uilla profundi 
qua Bromio dilectus ager, collisque per altos 
uritur et prelis non inuidet uua Falernis. 
sil III, I, 106; V, 3, 162 f. 

(5) Tabula Peutingerana loc. cit, 

- 309 - 



now extant, and those which passed under this name in former 
centuries were probably so called without reason. The ancient 
columns, however, belonging to the church of S. Pietro di 
Crapolla, which is situated on the southern side of the penin- 
sula, are supposed at least in part to be derived from that 
edifice (I). 

VENUS AND CERES. 

Venus and Ceres were sometimes or perhaps always served 
by the same priestesses, who as at Pompeii bore the name 
sacerdotes publicae. They were regularly matrons, members 
of the best families, and occupied a high social position in the 
community. The office is mentioned in two fragmentary epi- 
taphs, one of which records the funeral honors decreed as a 
tribute to the priestess and states that her statue had been 
placed in the temple of Venus (2). The only other reference 
to the cult of Venus occurs in the Pseudo-Vergilian Catalepton, 
where an altar on the Surrentine coast along with Caesar is said 
to be calling her (3). The two cults of Venus and Ceres proba- 
bly had separate shrines, although they were looked after by 
priestesses common to both. For the latter were rather super- 
visory officials occupying a public office of the state than actual 
attendants serving a particular shrine. The work of the ritual 
itself could be done by subordinates. The Venus cult, although 
introduced at an early period, undoubtedly grew strong as a 
result of the influence of Sulla and Caesar and the prestige of the 
neighboring shrine at Pompeii (4). Beloch locates her shrine at 
the edge of the city on the water front in the vicinity of the 
Grotta di S. Giorgio and the Hotel Sirena. Here an image of Cu- 
pid was found at the beginning of the nineteenth century, but 

(1) Beloch 276; Douglas, Siren Land 116 f . ; Capasso, op. cit. 59 f. 

(2) C. I. L. X, 680, Vaglieri 1881, ....ae L. f. Magna© sacerdoti public. 

Venenis et Cereris; C. /. L. X, 688, Vaglieri 1968 sacerd. public. Vener... 

huic matronae statuam ex aere go] lata in aedem Veneris ponendam cu- 
rauerunt. 

(3) Catal. XIV, 11: Adsis, O Cytherea: tuus te Caesar Olympo et Sur- 
rentini litoris ara uocat. 

(4) Gargiulo Mem. d. r. accad. ercol. I, 321 suggests its introduction 
from Lipara. 

- 310 - 



nothing affording an absolute identification of the site (I). 
The older antiquarians as Gargiulo attempted to find a temple 
site for Ceres (2). 

NEPTUNE. 

On the shore southwest of Surrentum between it and the 
Sirens* temple stood two sanctuaries consecrated respectively 
to Neptune and Hercules, who served as double guardians of 
the place. More precisely they were situated along the little 
indentation of the sea between Capo di Sorrento and Capo di 
Massa, and were both in close proximity to the magnificent 
villa of Pollius Felix, which Statius describes at great length 
in his Siluae. As the villa was situated on the hill called Punta 
della Calcarella, the temple of Neptune, which is described as 
standing in front of it, must have been located on the cliff that 
lines the coast at this point (3). It was on the very edge of the 
shore buffeted by the waves and wet with the spray ; eventually 
it was probably carried away by the assaults of the furious 
sea (4). The cult seems to have been an important one, as 
the district of Surrentum is associated especially with Neptune 
by Statius (5). As a maritime god he shared with Minerva the 
office of giving aid and protection to those who sailed the seas. 

HERCULES. 

Since the temple dedicated to Hercules is the subject of 
one of the poems of Statius, we have considerable information 

(!) Beloch 266; Gargiulo 320; Capasso 48. 

(2) He builds his theory on the supposed corruption of Ceres into Circo. 
Gargiulo 317. 

(3) Stat, sil II, 2, 21. 

Ante domum tumidae moderatur caerulus undae 
excubat, innocua custos Laris; huius amico 
spumant templa salo; felicia rura tuetur 
Alcides. Gaudet gemino sub numine portus. 

(4) Beloch 272. Cp. Gargiulo 320. 

(5) Stat. sil. IV, 8, 6: Nee solum festas erecta Neapolis aras 

ambiat; et socii portus dilectaque miti 
terra Dicarcheo nee non plaga cara madenti 
Surrentina deo sertis altaria cingat 

- 311 - 



about a restoration carried out in the year 90-91 A. D. by the 
poet's friend Pollius. It stood upon the shore of the Marina di 
Puolo not far from the temple of Neptune and Pollius' country 
home (1). Previous to the date above mentioned the -cult 
had its seat in a small insignificant chapel built upon a narrow 
ledge of rocks, the dilapidated condition of which is exagger- 
ated by the poet in order to make the new building appear all 
the more splendid (2). The chapel was probably not strictly 
a public temple; it served the needs chiefly of the sailors who 
frequented this coast, as Hercules like the other gods worshipped 
here was a maritime deity (3). 

According to the poet's tale, while Pollius and his friends 
were eating a picnic dinner in the open air on a midsummer day, 
they were surprised by a sudden storm and sought shelter in 
the temple of Hercules, which, however, was too small to 
contain easily all the company (4). During this time the god 
chided the wealthy Pollius because his own shrine was mean 
and contemptible when compared with all the adjoining build- 
ings. The reproaches did not fall upon deaf ears and touched 
their hearer's conscience. A larger and more magnificent struc- 
ture was designed, the adjoining rocks were removed to afford 
more room, and in the course of a year a handsome edifice 
was erected to be a credit to the country side (5). Its dedica- 
tion was accompanied by the institution of athletic contests 
upon the sandy beach, - a festival that became an annual 
event (6). 



(1) Stat sil II, 2, 21; Boehm, Hercules, P.-W. VIII, 585; Capasso 55. 

(2) Stat. sil III, I, 1-7. 

(3) Stat. sil HI, 1, 83; Stabat dicta sacri tenuis casa nomine tempi* 

et magnum Alciden humili lare parua premebat, 
fluctiuagos nautas scrutatoresque profundi 
uix operire capax. Cp. ibidem 107. 

(4) Stat. sil III 1, 68 f. 

(5) Stat, sil III, 1, 135 f: Vix annus anhelat 

alter, et ingenti diues Tirynthius arce 
despectat fluctus et iunctae tecta nouercae 
prouocat et dignis inuitat Pallada templis. 

(6) Stat, sil 111, 1, 43 f., 139 f. 

- 312 - 



MINOR CULTS. 

Somewhere in this region not too far from the shrine of 
Hercules stood Juno's sanctuary. Nothing is known about it 
save the fact that it afforded an easy view to the former (1). 
Apollo was probably worshipped in a shrine situated upon the 
heights of the southern shore of the peninsula. A trace of his 
name seems to be preserved in the designation applied to the 
church of S. Pietro di Crapollo, which may be derived from 
obtpov 'AtcoXXowos. It is situated opposite the Sirenusae. In the 
account of the myth of the Sirens given by Hyginus they are 
represented as coming from Sicily to the rock of Apollo (2). 
The evidence which has been presented for cults of other im- 
portant deities such as Jupiter or Hecate is of no value (3). 

Along with the greater gods at least one hero was vener- 
ated in this locality. Liparus according to legend was a prince 
who had been forced to flee from Italy to the island of Lipara, 
which he colonized and named. Restored in the course of time 
to his native land by his son-in-law Aeolus, he had ruled as a 
king at Surrentum and after his death received henceforth the 
honors of a hero (4). 



(1) Stat, ail HI, 1, 104 f.; 137; Capasso Mem. storico-arch. della penisola 
sorrentina, 56. 

(2) Hyg. fab. 141. An interesting modern religious procession starting 
from Sorrento is described by Gargiulo, who thinks it a survival of pagan 
usage pertaining to the Apollo cult. Too little is known about the Apollo 
worship here to draw any conclusions from it. Gargiulo Mem. d. r. accad. 
ercol. I, 331. This Writer tried to locate two temples of the god in the dis- 
trict of Surrentum. 

(3)Gargiulo tries to find evidence for, Jupiter in Stat, sil. Ill, 1, 108 
but an examination of the passage beginning with line 137 indicates that 
only Minerva and Juno had temples in the vicinity. Gargiulo op. cit. 325, 
326; Capasso 57. 

(4) Diod. V, 7. It is not quite clear from Diodorus whether the last 
events allude to Aeolus or Liparus. The interpretation in the text seems the 
more probable from the statements of the Greek. This is the opinion of 
Schirmer, Liparos, Roscher II, 2063; Roscher, i4io!os, Roscher, I, 194; Cia- 
ceri, Culti e mitt della Sicilia 101 ; Pais, Ancient Italy 223; the opposite view 
is held by Beloch 435 (1); Tiimpel, Aiolos, P.-W. I. 1038. 

- 313 - 



ROMAN CULTS. 

Epigraphical material relative to the priesthoods and col- 
legia of the Empire particularly those associated with the cult 
of the Emperors is almost entirely wanting in this locality. Of 
the older religious officials only the augur is cited; of those 
who carried on the cult of the Emperors only a flamen of 
Roma and Tiberius has left any traces of his presence. Both 
offices were filled by a certain L. Cornelius whose cognomen 
has been lost (1). The inscription is cited incorrectly by Richter 
among the examples attesting a union of the worship of Roma 
and Diuus Augustus (2). Instead it belongs to the extremely 
rare evidence for a cult of the Emperor Tiberius in the West, 
and is one of the very few references to a combination of his 
worship with that of Roma (3). The desire of that Emperor to 
prevent his worship was evidently respected for the most part 
in the West generally and in Italy, but here there was a conside- 
rable Greek element to be considered (4). His cult here must 
have been of an ephemeral character which soon passed; as 
the cult of Roma herself was not a popular one and depended 
for its existence upon its alliance with the Imperial family, it 
probably had no very long life here. 

MAGNA MATER. 

There is no evidence for assigning to this town a cult of 
Magna Mater. The well known pedestal discovered here, which 
was designed to support a statue of one of the members of 
the Imperial family, contains reliefs of several divinities con- 
nected particularly with that family among which appears a 
likeness of Cybele (5). But these figures are an attempt to 

(1) C. /. L. X, 668; VagUeri 1968. 

(2) Richter, Roma, Roscher IV, 145. 

(3) Tiberius and Roma were worshipped at Mograwa in the province 
of Africa (provincia Byzacena) C. /. L. VIII, 11912. A doubtful case depend- 
ing upon a supplement to a mutilated inscription is C. /. L. VIII, 16472 

also from Africa. Cp. Toutain, Les cultes paiens I, 62; Mommsen, Rom. 
Staaisr II (3), 758; Herbst, De sacerdoiiis Rom. munic. 8. 

(4) A flamen of Tiberius is cited from Venusia C. /. L. IX, 652. 

(5) Gerhard, Neapels antike Bildwerke PI. 22; Muller- Wieseler, Denk- 
maler II, 63, 810; Graillot, Le culte de Cybele 112. 

- 314 - 



portray leading divinities worshipped in the Roman Forum and 
on the Palatine, and so have no bearing upon local conditions 
at Surrentum (I). 

CHRISTIANITY. 

Among the patron saints of the church at Surrentum are 
four bishops; these however have been assigned to the fifth 
century and probably were not martyrs (2). 

CAPREAE. 

Capreae, an island connected with the earliest Greek set- 
tlements in Italy belongs geographically to the Sorrentine 
peninsula, from which it is separated by a channel only three 
miles wide. Politically it was under the jurisdiction of Neapolis 
from an unknown date up to the reign of Augustus, when it 
became an Imperial possession. Brought into prominence by 
the long sojourn of Tiberius, it sank again into obscurity, and 
is seldom mentioned later. In spite of its early settlement and 
long period of habitation as a Greek community it has yielded 
little evidence pertaining to ancient religious conditions (3). 

One tradition made this the home of the Sirens, but no 
record of any worship here has been preserved (4). It is com- 
monly affirmed that Tiberius built twelve villas on the island, 
which he named after the twelve leading Roman gods (5). 
But it is not certain that these buildings were the work of that 
prince, and the statement that the largest was called the villa 

(1) Gargiulo, op. cit. 319-320, however, cites an altar containing a fig- 
ure of Magna Mater seated on a car drawn by lions and followed by a crowd. 
The reliefs are spoken of as disappearing. Cp. Capasso 48. 

(2) E. Stevenson, Bull. arch, crist. 1879, 37; Lanzoni, Riv. stotico^crit 
delle scienze teol. VI (1910) 284. 

(3) Hiilsen, Capreae, P.-W. Ill, 1546-1548; Beloch 280-282; Mommsen, 
C. /. L. X, p. 681. 

(4) Serv. Aen. V, 864: Et primo iuxta Pelorum, post in Capreis in- 
sulis habitauerunt, quae inlectos suo oantu in naufragia deducebant; Mytho- 
graphi Vaticani I, 42 (of similar purport); Douglas, Some Antiquarian notes 
VIII, 256; Canale, Storia dell'isola di Capri 35. 

(5) Suet. Tib. 65; Tac. ann. IV, 67; Hiilsen, P.-W. Ill, 1547; Be- 
loch 282. 

- 315 - 



of Jupiter rests upon a dubious text where the weight of evi- 
dence in the manuscripts is altogether in favor of the reading, 
villa of Io (I). A local designation Moneta applied to a spot 
not far from the Palazzo di Tiberio, is sometimes cited as 
testimony for the presence of a shrine of ljuno Moneta or at 
least of a villa bearing her name, but no good evidence for 
this deity is at hand (2). In truth there is no proof that the 
body of greater gods was formally recognized in the names 
of the buildings associated with Tiberius. 

ORIENTAL CULTS. 

In the excavations made by Hadrawa in 1 790 at the place 
called Campo Pisco (Palazzo a mare), where one of the largest 
villas was situated, a large number of antiquities came to light 
including an altar of Magna Mater, which is reported to have 
been consigned to the British Museum (3). In the eastern part 
of the island the natural cavern called Grotta di Mitromania 
once served as the shrine of the god Mithras. The front of the 
cave was divided into three chambers once closed with a wall 
of brick. It faced the east, a situation which was probably 
preferred, but which owing to existing conditions was not 
always possible. The principal chamber on the left was suc- 
ceeded in the rear by two terraces of semi-circular form con- 
nected with each other and with the outer chamber by 
stairways (4). From this ^shrine perhaps camej a bas-relief 
preserved in the National Museurrt at Naples. It shows the bull- 
slaying Mithras with his customary symbols, and also busts of 
Sol and Luna (5). 



(!) Ihm, Suetoniana, Hermes XXXVI (1901) 287; Hirschfeld, Kleine 
Schriften 534(2). 

(2) Canal e, Storia dell'isola di Capri, 71. 

(3) Beloch 286; Feola, Rapporto sutto stato attuale dei ruderi *Augwto~ 
Tiberiani nella isola di Capri 2. 

(4) Cumont, Texts et monuments I, 58, 58 (3); II, 251, No. 95 (de- 
scription of grotto and plan); Feola op. cit. 18 f. ; Beloch 288; Canale 84. 

(5) Cumont, II, 252, Fig. 87, 88; Riisch, Guida 182, No. 671; Museo 
Museo Borbonico XIII, 22. 

- 316 - 



CHAPTER VII, 
CAPUA, 



In the northern part of the Campanian plain not far from 
the Volturnus River was situated in ancient times the important 
city of Capua. Some two miles away toward the north rose 
the mountain range called Tifata, an offshoot of the Apennines, 
but the city itself was built entirely on the level plain. Among 
its most characteristic features were its comparatively large 
area and its regularity of design ; with its straight, well-ordered 
streets running exactly in accord with the points of the compass 
it gained renown as a model of symmetrical beauty. Of these 
streets the principal avenue or Decumanus was doubtless formed 
by the Via Appia, which at this point changed its direction 
materially to conform with the plan of the town. 

Surrounding the city and extending southward nearly to 
the sea stretched the broad expanse of level country known 
as the Ager Campanus. Originally the territory properly be- 
longing to Capua comprised all the western portion of this 
plain bounded on the north by the Volturnus River. Eastward 
its jurisdiction included the heights of Mt. Tifata and extended 
about as far as the modern village of S. Agatha de* Goti. The 
place called Scyllas in the Tabula Peutingerana appears to have 
been located toward the eastern extremity of this territory. On 
the south the collis Leucogaeus three miles from the coast 
seems to have marked its boundary on the side of Cumae and 
the other coast cities. Westward its possessions extended to the 
sea. Nor was the Ager Campanus all the territory of this city; 
it held sway likewise over the Ager Falernus and the Ager 
Stellas or Stellatis both lying beyond the Volturnus. Although 

- 317 - 



this tributary country was later abridged by the founding of 
Roman colonies, Capua remained the natural metropolis of 
the plains. 

In the first place then on account of its situation it was 
naturally a great agricultural center inhabited largely by those 
who were interested directly or indirectly in the cultivation of 
the soil. On the rich plains grain was the chief crop and had 
an enviable reputation for its quality, while the raising of live 
stock with the exception of horses was less successful. As the 
higher ground eastward among the mountains was favorable 
for olive culture, Capua was a great market for oil. Likewise 
the upland as well as the Ager Falernus produced wines of 
high grade and considerable reputation. Within the city manu- 
factures flourished, including such staple articles as pottery, 
metal and wood work, rope, carpets, and a line of celebrated 
perfumed ointments. From all these causes the city enjoyed a 
remarkable growth, until it became the second city in Italy in 
population and importance. 

It seems to have been also the literary metropolis of the 
Oscans during the fourth and third centuries. B. C. It was the 
birth place of several men prominent in literature or scholar- 
ship from time to time, among whom Naevius and Velleius 
Paterculus are most widely known, and it was the residence 
of Dio Cassius while he was composing his histories. But the 
devotion of the people to gladiatorial combats eclipsed in gen- 
eral all their other interests. The custom in fact became so 
prevalent that the wealthy citiziens sometimes viewed these 
spectacles at their meals. To supply the demand at home and 
elsewhere the famous schools for training gladiators were 
maintained. With good' reason the Capuans were notorious for 
their luxury, yet the most incredible tales circulated must be 
largely discounted because of the fact that they are due to the 
Romans, who were fond of stigmatizing the superbia Cam- 
pana (I). 

The location of the city on level ground and its symmet- 
rical arrangement point to a comparatively late date of settle- 
ment. Like other Italian towns its early history is wrapped in 

(1) Cp. Beloch 334; Nissen, Italische Landeskande II, 707; Hiilsen, 
Capua, P.-W. Ill, 1555 f . ; De Petra, / porti antichi deW Italia meridionale 316. 

- 318 - 



obscurity, and the traditional accounts exhibit noticeable 
variation. According to one account it was founded by the 
Etruscans as one of their twelve Campanian cities and had at 
that time the name Volturnum (1). But the original settlement 
on this site seems to have been made by men of another race, 
as is shown by the name of the city, now generally considered 
to be Oscan (2), by discoveries made in the most ancient tombs, 
and finally by the general use of Oscan when the recorded 
history of the city begins. Later it wets certainly under Etruscan 
domination for a brief period. 

In the latter part of the fifth century B. C. the city came 
under the power of the Samnites, - a change of government 
which may have been welcomed by the greater part of the 
population. During the next century as the townsmen were 
hard pressed by the mountaineers, they made some agreement 
with the Romans the terms of which are obscure (340 or 343 
B. C). They were received as citizens sine suffragio, and in the 
succeeding period they probably issued the series of coins with 
the legend Campanos, which are assigned by most numisma- 
tist to this city (3). During the Samnite Wars, however, they 
revolted with the result that they forfeited their control over 
the Ager Falernus, which was distributed among Roman cit- 
izens, and had to submit to the jurisdiction of praefecti sent 
out from Rome (318 B. C). Yet Oscan remained the official 
language, the older native officials did not pass out of existence ; 
and a series of coins was minted, which when of silver or gold, 
were stamped with the mark of Rome, but when the material 
was bronze, bore the city's proper legend in Oscan (4). 

Influenced by Hannibal's unprecedented success against 
Rome, Capua finally espoused the cause of Carthage and was 
brought back under Roman control only after an extended 
siege (21 1 B. C). As a result of this revolt the Capuans were 

(1) According to another view the Etruscans became masters not of 
the ancient Capua but of the adjoining town of Casiiinum, the modern Ca- 
pua. See Pais, Anc. Legends of Rom. Hist. 252; Stor. crit. di Roma I, 234 (1). 

(2) A. discussion of the name occurs in Beloch 297; Hulsen P.-W. Ill, 
1555; de Ruggiero, Capua, Ruggiero II, 102. 

(3) This view is combatted, by A. Sambon I, 286. 

(4) Haberlin, however, assigns these coins to the period of the revolt 
213-211 B. C. Die Systematik des altesten rbm. Miinzvoesens 10. 

- 319 - 



severely punished. Although they retained the right of con- 
tracting legal marriage, they lost all their privileges as a civic 
community and their municipal organization was abolished. 
Only now did the Latinization of the district begin, the first 
datable inscription in this language going back no farther than 
110 B. C. The city suffered likewise some loss of territory; Ro- 
man colonies were established at Volturnum and Liternum (205 
B. C.) and at Puteoli (194 B. C), which, howerer, in every case 
were composed of but few colonists and occupied only a narrow 
strip along the coast. The rest of the Ager Campanus, while 
not definitely assigned became the property of the Roman state. 

During the succeeding century several attempts were made 
by popular leaders to colonize the country around Capua. 
During the ascendancy of Marius and Cinna a colony was 
established under the leadership of M. Brutus (86 B. C), but 
this soon broke up after the fall of the democratic party. At the 
time of the Social War and the struggle between Sulla and his 
opponents Capua had a place of prominence, in the first case 
as a center for the operations of the Roman armies, in the 
second as a stronghold of the populares. An attempt to renew 
the colony by the tribune P. Seruilius Rullus was defeated, but 
in 58 B. C. through Julius Caesar's influence 20000 colonists 
received allotments of ten iugera tracts. Officially the colony 
was known by the name Colonia Iulia Felix Capua. Later addi- 
tions were made by Mark Antony after the battle of Philippi 
(43), by Octavian, when supreme in the West (36 B. C), and 
in the time of the Empire by Nero. In the Civil War between 
the partisans of Vitellius and Vespasian Capua gave allegiance 
to the former, while her neighbor and rival Puteoli was on the 
winning side. As a result we find later that the southern part 
of the Ager Campanus as far as Aversa has come under Pu- 
teoli's jurisdiction, although this loss was balanced in part by 
the accession of part of the Ager Falernus. 

Later references to Capua are comparatively few. In the 
fourth century A. D. it was called Colonia Concordia Iulia Va- 
leria Felix Capua, and was the seat of the consularis Campa- 
niae. Ausonius ranked it as eighth in the list of cities in the 
Empire, designating it as inferior to Mediolanum (Milan) but 

^ 320 - 



larger than Aquileia (1). Captured by Gaiseric during the 
inroads of the barbarians, it nevertheless survived and appears 
in the sixth century as a stronghold of the opposition to Byzan- 
tine rule. In 840 it was completely destroyed by the Saracens. 
Survivors built a new city on the bank of the Volturnus, and 
the old site remained deserted until well into the Middle Ages, 
when another settlement was made under the name of S. Maria 
di Capua Vetere (2). 

When we attempt to investigate the various cults which 
had a part in the religious life of Capua, we find ourselves 
hampered by the lack of a knowledge of the location of even 
the most important shrines. In a few cases notably at S. An- 
gelo in Formis Christian churches seem to occupy the site of 
pagan temples, one of the many instances of the tenacity with 
which sacred places maintain their character of sanctity un- 
impaired through many vicissitudes of fortune. But, although 
our knowledge of the ancient topography is very limited so far 
as it concerns the religious side of life, we possess what pur- 
ports to be a full account of the town site at an epoch when 
there were more remains of buildings extant than are pre- 
served today. Unfortunately this is the work of the unreliable 
Pratilli, and although some of his supposed forgeries have 
turned out to be genuine and some of his claims were doubtless 
based on reality, yet his statements alone, when not corrobo- 
rated by other evidence, are of little value (3). According to his 
account there existed the proof for no fewer than nine shrines, 
but the inscriptions offered by him to attest their existence are 
generally suspected of being his own manufacture. Further- 
more, the extant evidence mostly refers not to the city itself but 
to the country districts of the adjacent Campanian plain. Then 



(1) Auson., Or Jo urbium. nobilium VIII. Cp. Anonymus Ravennas Cos~ 
mographia IV, 34 (Kapua caput Campaniae) and Guido Pisanus, Geographica 
42, 68. 

(2) For the history of Capua see Hiilsen, loc. cit. ; Mommsen, C. /. L. 
X, p. 365 f. ; Desjardins, La table de Peutinger 203 f . ; Beloch 296 f . ; de 
Ruggiero, Capua Ruggiero II, 102; A. Sambon 387; Nissen II, 696. 

(3) Pratilli's work entitled Delia Via Appia was published in 1745. It 
purports to be founded on the work of older authorities (?), - Fabio Vec- 
chioni, Silvestro Ajossa, Primicero d'Isa, Francesco Antonio di Tommaso. 

- 321 - 

21 



as now this territory supported a large population who were 
well supplied with shrines. 

PRE-ROMAN DIEITIES, DIANA 

The most celebrated cult of the city was that of Diana 
which had its headquarters about two miles north of town on 
the western slope of Mt. Tifata (1). This elevation was sur- 
rounded in antiquity by dense forests from which it derived its 
name, and traversed by numerous water-courses down which 
trickled the salubrious water of various mineral springs. Below 
was a mountain lake, which later became a swamp and today 
has utterly disappeared (2). As this mountain is the nearest ele- 
vated point to the city of Capua and dominates the Campanian 
plain, it naturally proved important in a military way, and is 
not infrequently mentioned in accounts of the Samnite, Hanni- 
balic and Civil Wars (3). In Sulla's time the whole region 
had long been accounted sacred to Diana. Its origin as a holy 
place is lost in the mists of legendary antiquity. According 
to tradition preserved by Vergil and Silius, Diana and her 
famula, a sacred doe, were worshipped in this locality by Capys, 
the mythical founder of the city (4). In fact this shrine in its 
venerable importance ranks with those of Diana Nemorensis 
and Diana Auentina as evidence for the high place assigned 
to this goddess by the primitive Italians, and was apparently a 
rallying point for the inhabitants of this part of the country, - 
the center in other words of the Campanian league (5). Al- 
though it has been maintained that this shrine was connected 

(1) Beloch 361; Cesano, Diana, Ruggiero, II, 1730. While Pausanias 
undoubtedly refers to this temple (V, 12, 3) he overestimates its distance from 
the city. 

(2) Festus, Tifata 366 MULindsay's ed. 503; Sil. XIII, 219; Veil. II, 
25, 4; Tab. Peut. in C. /. L. X, p. 59; Desjardins La table de Pent. 195 Pi. 
V.; Pellegrino, Discorsi I, 380; Birt, Diana, Roscher I, 1005; Cook, Zeus, Ju- 
piter and the Oak in Class. Rev. XVIII (1904) 369; Novi, Iscrizioni monumenti 
e vico scoperti da Giuseppe Novi 8 f. 

(3) As the Teputed location of Hannibal* s camp, the place long kept 
the designation Castra Hannibalis. Cp. Sil. XII, 489. Tab. Peut. loc. cit. 

(4) Veil. loc. cit; Verg. ^4en VII, 483-494; Sil. XIII, 115-125. 

(5) Beloch 362. 

- 322 - 



more particularly with Casilinum, its relations seem to have 
been rather with Capua, the metropolis of the whole coun- 
try (1). It was not only the most important Diana temple in 
Campania but the only one the existence of which is well 
authenticated (2). It should also be noted thait here as in 
other ancient shrines the goddess is a forest deity important 
in herself ; consequently she was never associated with Apollo. 
Treatments of this cult based on the theory that it was essen- 
tially Greek are entirely erroneous (3). 

The site of the ancient temple has been occupied since 
the tenth century by the church of S. Angelo in Formis, adorned 
with columns which probably formed a part of the ancient 
edifice. According to a mediaeval chronicle permission to use 
them was granted to the adjacent monastery by the prince who 
became known as Louis the Pious (4). The temple site is defi- 
nitely established by means of huge substructures yet in exis- 
tence. Behind the church stands a supporting wall to hold fast 
the mass of the mounain and upon this it has been conjectured, 
rose part of the peribolos of the temple. In front of the church 
in early times stood an altar surviving from the old regime, 
which contained the dedication Dianae Tifatinae Triviae sa- 
crum, so arranged that one word appeared on each face of 
the stone (5). Excavations made in the vicinity revealed the 
remains of an aqueduct, and brought to light a large quantity 
of small bronzes, terra-cottas, amphorae and other objects that 
were commonly left as votive offerings at a shrine (6). 

Beneath the sanctuary at the foot of the mountain a vil- 
lage sprang up called the ulcus Dianae, to which an allusion 



(1) Pais. Anc. Legends of Rom. Hist. 332 (4). 

(2) The goddess Aitemis-Oiana was sometimes reveied in the temple 
of Apollo as at Pompeii, and at Cumae may have had a separate sanctuary. 
Cp. Boll. Archiv. fur Rdligionswissertschajt XIII (1910) 567 f . ; Beloch 331. 

(3) Corcia, Gli Arcadi in Italia in A Hi Nap. VIII (1876) 89; Albert, Le 
culte de Castor et Pollux en Italic 46. 

(4) Cronicon Vultumense beginning of book H = Muratori, Rerum 
Italicarum scriptores I, part 1, 368B. Cp. Leo Cardinal of Ostia, Chronica 
sacri monasteri Casinensis = Muratori IV, 329. 

(5) C. /. L. X, 3795 ; D. 3270. 

(6) Belcch 365; Novi loc. ctt. 

- 323 - 



is evidently made in the Tabula Peutingerana as ad Diana (I). 
The same work mentions also a uia Dianae, stretching from 
the temple to Capua, which a certain duumuir of the city G. 
Lart — Gabinius Fortuitus paved at his own expense from the 
Porta Vulturni to the village just mentioned. This ancient road 
has been identified with a fieldway running to the east of the 
present public road between S. Angelo and the town of S. Ma- 
ria. In the other direction the uia Dianae, continuing its course 
some six miles farther, leads to the village that occupies the 
site bf the ancient Syllas (2). 

Our earliest direct evidence for Diana's cult is found in 
the third century Oscan coins. A series in bronze shows her 
bust upon the obverse, distinguished by the presence of a 
quiver of arrows; upon the reverse appears the figure of a 
running boar. She is probably to be recognized on the reverse 
of certain coins in the act of driving a two horse chariot, and 
it has been conjectured by A. Sambon that the two idols some- 
times seen on others are representation of xoana of this god- 
dess (3). 

A mutilated inscription, dated by the names of the con- 
suls in 99 B. C, mentions a body of magistri or overseers at- 
tached to this shrine, who had control over a considerable 
treasury (4). They formed a corporation representing the god- 
dess with the same right of private ownership as was possessed 

(1) C. I. L. X, p. 59 = Desjardins, La table de Peut, 195, PL V. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 3913 = D 5380=Vaglieri 2080: 

G. Lart Gabinio P. f. Pal. Fortuito dictatori Lan(uuii) Iluir(o) Ca- 

puae, quod uiam Dianae a porta Vodturn. ad uicum usq. sua pec. silice strauer. 

ob munific, eius d. d. 

Beloch 365 f. Cp. C. /. L. X, 3792. 

(3) A. Sambon 392, 399, Nos. 1032, 1034, 1038; Head 35; Garrucci 
89, PL LXXXVII; Poole 81 f. ; Cp. L. Sambon, Recherches sur les monn. 
171 ; Dressel, Beschr. d. ant. Miinzen III, 84. 

(4) C. /. L. X, 3781 = C. /. L. 1,569 = D. 5561 = Vaglieri 2096. Iannelli, 
Atti Terra di Lavoro 1888, 75 f . : .... M. Antonio, A. Postumio cos. Heisce mag. 

murum ab gradu ad calcidic. et calcidicum et portic. ante culin. long, p 

et signa mam. Cast, et Pol. et loc. priuat de stipe Dian. emendum (et facien- 
dum coerauere. The significance of the magistri mentioned here and else- 
where will be discussed later. This interpretation is contested by Schulten, 
who maintains that Dian(ae) is in the dative case, De conventibus civium 
Romanorum 74 (2). 

- 324 - 



by a single person, - a prerogative the possession of which 
according to Mommsen is attested for no other shrine operat- 
ing under Roman law excepted that of the Venus at Mt. 
Eryx, (1). In conformity with this right appear inscriptions 
containing the phrases Rufa Dianaes I (iberta) and Vrsulus uil 
(icus) Dianae as well as a small bronze stamp inscribed Diane 
Tifatine (2). These indications point to the ownership of con- 
siderable personal property including slaves, and the posses- 
sion of real estate is proved by the activity of the magistri. 
These officials besides buying additional land conducted build- 
ing operations of considerable extent, constructing a wall, a 
portico and a chalcidicum, and also attended to the preparation 
of statues of the Dioscuri to adorn their shrine (3). 

The temple prospered greatly under Roman control. After 
Sulla had defeated Norbanus of the opposing faction in this 
spot (83 B. C.) he gave to the goddess as a thank offering all 
Tifata and the adjoining plain, thus confirming and enlarging 
her domain. This grant seems to have been of a generous 
character ; six miles to the east of the temple the Tabula Peut- 
ingerana marks the place called Syllas, which may fix one of 
the limits of his donation (4). According to Velleius it was 
commemorated by an inscription at the door of the sanctuary 
and also by a bronze tablet on the inside (5). 

After this time the lands of the shrine seem to have formed 
a separate judicial district or praefectura in charge of which 

(1) Mommsen, C. /. L. X, 367. Cp. Mommsen, Zur Lehre von den rom. 
Korporationen in Gesam. Schrif. Ill, 63. 

(2) C. I. L. X, 4263; 8217; 8059. Mommsen, Rh. Mus. V (1847) 464, notes 
the rarity of seals containing the name of a divinity. 

(3) The probable significance of the term chalcidicum is discussed by 
de Ruggiero, Ruggiero II, 216. 

(4) C. /< JL X, p. 59, No. 9 = Desjardin®, op. cit. 206, Col. 3, PL V. 

(5) Veil. II, 25, 4: Post uictoriam Sulla gratis Dianae, cuius nu- 

mini regio ilia sacrata est, soluit: aquas salubritate medendisque corporibus 
nobiles agrosque omnis addixit deae: huius gratae religionis memoriam et 
inscriptio templi adfixa posti hodieque et tabula testatur aerea intra aedem. 
Cesano (Ruggiero II, 1739) calls attention to Sulla's influence in promoting 
Diana's cult at Rome during the last years of the Republic. The dictator's 
son Faustus Cornelius Sulla placed the figure of the goddess upon coins 
minted in 53 B. C. Cp. Cesano, op. cit. 1738; Babelon, Monn. de la rSp. rom. 
I, 421. 

- 325 - 



was a pr(aefectus) or pr(aetor) iure dicundo, whose functions 
are not well understood. The name of one such official be- 
longing to the Imperial period has been preserved (1). In these 
times there were still magistri, but they were probably quite 
different in rank and general character from those who formed 
the collegia of pre-colonial days. The management of this im- 
portant shrine was doubtless closely connected with the colonial 
government, and would be one of its chief tasks. Lists of 
magistri are no longer found; but individual examples of offi- 
cials of the temple occur in the case of Q. Peticius and C. Vel- 
leius Urbanus, the latter of whom was honored with the distinc- 
tion of the equus publicus by Antoninus Pius (2). 

The Emperors so far as we have evidence, were watchful 
over the ancient prerogatives of the temple, and when they 
located colonists in the vicinity, were careful not to encroach 
upon its lands. Augustus had caused a chart of the various 
holdings to be prepared; later when the boundaries were be- 
coming confused, Vespasian ordered a new survey and recon- 
firmed the rights of Diana (77 A. D.). The circumstance that 
two stones have been found giving in similar but not identical 
form the action of the Emperor makes it probable that cippi 
thus inscribed were used to mark the sacred boundaries (3). 

The notices that have been transmitted to us lead us to 
the conclusion that the shrine was very rich in votive offerings. 
Athenaeus in two places speaks of a double-handled silver 
drinking cup kept here, which was said to have been a pos- 
session of the Homeric Nestor, and upon which in letters of 



(1) C. /. L. X, 4564 = D. 6306 = Vaglieri 2109: D. m. s. C. Terentio 

C. fil. Pal. Charino pr. i. d. montis Dianae Tif. C. Terentius Hypercompus 
filio bono contra uotum. Cp. Mommsen, C. /. L. X, p. 367; Rom. Staatsr., Ill, 
799 (2). and Cirta in Hermes I, (1866) 63. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 3918 = D. 6304 = Vaglieri 2108. C. /. L. X, 3924 = 

D. 6305 = Vaglieri 2110; C. Velleius C. f. Pal. Vrbano mag. fan. Dian. Tif., 
honorato equo publ(ico) ab imp. Antonino Aug. cum ageret aetatis an. V. C. 
Velleius Vrbanus et Tullia Nice parentes. L. d. d. d. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 3828 = D. 251 : Imp. Caesar Vespasianus Aug. cos. 
VIII fines agrorum dicatorum Dianae Tifat. a Cornelio Sulla ex forma diui 

Aug. restituit. P(raedia) D(ianae) T(ifatinae). N. S. 1893, 161 = D. 3240. This 
inscription is a reproduction of X, 3828 except that locor. takes the place of 
agrorum. 

- 326 - 



gold were engraved several hexametetr lines (I). Pausanias 
alludes to the tusks, or as he would call them, « horns » of 
elephants, which he claims to have himself seen attached to 
the skull of one those animals in the temple (2). An inter- 
esting metrical inscription of the fourth century also has 
reference to a dedicatory offering; according to its text a hunter 
Delmatius Laetus, who invokes the deity as Latona, the Res- 
ident of Mt. Tifata, has dedicated to her the horns of a 
deer (3). Besides the altar mentioned in another connection 
two more short dedications have been found in the vicinity, 
the first made by L. Naeuius Gratus, the other of unknown 
origin (4). A silver vase unearthed at Herculaneum contains 
among other words engraved upon the bottom the phrase, 
scriptum Capuae at Deanam (5). To the temple perhaps be- 
longed an aedituus Dexter, mentioned upon an epitaph from 
S. Angelo in Formis, but it is possible that the word aedituus 
is a proper name (6). 

That the cult was not exclusively local is proved by the 
discovery of an inscription and relief in Gallia Narbonensis, 
perhaps the work of a former resident of Capua. This stone 
in the form of a cippus exhibits the name of M. Iccius 
Mummius ; the relief shows the goddess in a shrine clad in the 
apparel of a huntress with the common emblems of the bow, 
quiver, deer, and hounds, - an imitation in short of the type 
exemplified by the Diana of Versailles (7). 

(1) Athen. 466 E. Athen. 489 B. is of similar purport. Cp. Cesano, Dia- 
na, Ruggiero II, 1731. 

(2) Pans. V, 12, 3. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 3796 = D. 3261 = Vaglieri 1053. Cp. Nissen. Inschriften 
aus Campanien in Hermes I (1866) 158. There is some uncertainty as to 
which words represent the dedicator's name. Nissen discusses the probability 
that he was Delmatius, a brother or a nephew of Constantine the Great. Cp. 

Novi, Iscrizioni, mon. e vico scop, da G. Nooi 22. 

(4) C. /. L. X, 3794: L. Naeuius L. f. Grat. Dianae sac. £. E. VIII, 472: 
Dianae T. d. d. 

(5) C. /. L. X, 8071 (5). 

(6) Atti Terra di Lavoro 1895, 26 = N. S. 1895. 233: Dextro Dextri ae- 
ditui et Campaniae Albinae filio Duronio a basilica cum suis uixit etc. Stein, 
Jahresb. tiber die Forischr. der fetes*. i4/oerf. CXLIV (1909) 24!. 

(7) C. /. L. XII, 1705 = D. 3242: Dianae Tifatinae... M. Iccius Mummius. 
Cp. Cesano loc. cit. Other inscriptions cited to attest Diana's cult are probably 
spurious. Cp. C. /. L. X, 446,* 447,* 444.* 

- 327 - 



The Diana cult has also left its traces in a small shrine 
discovered in the remains of a building excavated near S. An- 
gelo in Formis. Here facing the east appeared a painted image 
of the divinity, while on a wall to the right was portrayed a 
deer. This was assigned by Fiorelli to the beginning of the 
period of decadence and more exactly by Minervini and Cesano 
to the third century A. D. With the goddess are depicted a bow 
and an arrow, an animal skin and a torch ; more noticeable 
is her triple crown comprising a wreath of laurel on her 
temples within which occur successively a gold diadem with 
nine serpent-like projections and a circular nimbus. Here she 
is conceived as a huntress as a result of Greek influence, and 
is assimilated to the form of Artemis. But the old nature 
goddess of the forests, originally venerated on the mountain, 
was rather a protectress of wild animals than a destroyer. At 
the same time the figure of Diana herself perhaps was intended 
to reproduce accurately the cuk-statue of the neighboring* 
temple; hence as the only painted likeness of this deity, the 
picture of the little shrine has considerable importance (1). 

Terra-cotta antefixes from this region, now preserved in 
the Museo Campano at Capua, represent Diana lightly clad, 
riding upon a galloping steed. Her long hair falls over her 
shoulders, and one hand holds a bow, while the other guides 
her speeding horse. Below is seen the figure of a goose. Anoth- 
er terra-cotta figure shows the goddess holding by the paws 
two wild animals either lions or panthers. In both cases she 
retains her original significance as a patron of animal life (2). 
Priests of Diana are represented in mosaics found at S. Angelo 
in 1876, and now in the Museo Campano (3). 



(1) Fiorelli, N. 5. 1877, 116, Cesano, Ruggiexo II, 1731; Birr, Diana, 
Roscher I, 1006; Wissowa, Diana, P.-W. V, 327; Minervini, Di alcune antichita 
di Tifata in Commentationes philol. in honorem Mommseni 660 and Atti Terra 

di Lavoro 1877, 42. 

(2) F. Lenormant, Diane Tifatine in Gazette archeologique VII (1881- 
82) 82; Paris, Diana, D.-S. II, 155, Fig. 2395. 

(3) Beloch 365 ; Mancini, Giornale degli scavi di Pompei n. s. Ill, 239. 

- 328 - 



JUPITER. 

In the early days the name Jupiter was doubtless given to 
a considerable number of more or less vaguely conceived 
divinities, who were supposed to have some connection with 
light and the open sky. They were distinguished from one 
another by the addition of a qualifying epithet, which would 
usually be the most important part of the name. As time went 
on there was naturally a tendency to identify some of these 
with similar Jupiters and by this process of syncretism to reduce 
the total number. Our information on this subject goes back 
as far as the third century B. C, which has left us a number 
of inscriptions written in Oscan that pertain to Jupiter wor- 
ship (1). As a class, they contain the word iouilae (invilas), the 
exact force of which is unknown, although it is clearly connect- 
ed with the sphere of religion. It seems to be a technical name 
applied to some kind of offering made to the Oscan god 
Jupiter. Such gifts were made by individuals and by several 
persons jointly as members of the family or gens. They seem 
to have been! dedicated regularly at festivals and sacred seasons 
such as the louiae or feast of IJupiter and the Martian Ides, 
which were celebrated with sacrifice or banquet. The exact 
nature of the offering is somewhat uncertain, but it is now 
considered to have been the representation of coats of arms 
designed for dedication either at graves or in a sacred grove 
or temple. The material is usually stone but in some cases is 
cheap terra-cotta work. Etruscan influence has been suggested 
by Conway but rejected in favor of a belief in a native Italian 
custom (2). 

In these inscriptions gods are seldom mentioned. The term 
Vesullias, which sometimes occurs is probably not an allusion 
to a group of goddessess. In fact the only one of the inscriptions 
that clearly refers to a divinity is a dedication to Jupiter Flagius 
(Iuvei Flagivi), which in its details has been variously trans- 
lated (3). According to its text iouilae of the customary jsort were 
offered to a certain Jupiter by members of the gens Caesilln. 

(1) Buck, Grammar of Oscan and Vmbrian p. 247; Conway, Italic 
Dialects I, p. 101 f. 

(2) Conway, Ancient Italy in Hastings Encyclopedia VII, 458. 

(3) Conway, op. cit. pag. 110. 

- 329 - 



The terra-cotta contains also upon its faces as emblems three 
wheels of the three-spoked variety and a boar (1). The fexact 
nature of fhe god is unknown, but he was doubtless akin to 
the Jupiters who had such distinguishing epithets as Fulgur 
and Fulgurator and to the Jupiter Flazzus or Flazius who is 
mentioned in an inscription of uncertain origin (2). Thus he 
was connected with the lightning and the sky (3). Because these 
dedications were offered at graves, von Planta identifies this 
Jupiter with Dis Pater, regarding him as a chthonic divinity; 
Jordan considered the identification already proposed as un- 
certain (4). 

Numismatic evidence for Jupiter goes back at least as far 
as the inscriptions just cited; in fact many bronze, silver and 
electrum coins of the third century B. C, when the govern- 
ment was largely autonomous, bear witness to the influence of 
this god. A silver eight obol piece assigned by A. Sambon to 
about 263 B. C. and by Haberlin to the period 213-211, bears 
upon one side an eagle and upon the other the laurel crowned 
head of the god. A series of bronze coins, belonging chiefly 
to the second half of the third century, exhibit the Jupiter head 
with laurel wreath, the profiles of Jupiter and Juno together, 
and finally Jupiter riding in a swift chariot (5). Toward the 
close of the same period he is seen in a similar attitude on the 
reverse of an electrum piece, and again garlanded with laurel 
upon coins of bronze (6). In addition to this money of a purely 
Oscan character a quantity of silver coins with the legend m 
Latin show upon the reverse a likeness of Jupiter in his chariot. 
But, although these coins are generally assigned to the mint at 

(1) Buck, No. 25 = Conway, No. 108 = von Planta, No. 138. 

(2) See p. 396. 

(3) Buck p. 249; Conway; 1, p. 109, 110; Corssen, Commentationes 
epigraphicae tres in E. E. II, p. 162; Minervini, Atti Terra di Lavoro 1873, 

99; Bucheler, Jenaer LUteraturzeitung I (1874) 609 (not accessible to me); Aust, 
luppiter, Roscher II, 641 ; Wissowa 121. 

(4) Von Planfca, Gramm. der os^isch-umbrischen Dialeltfe II, p. 635 ; 
Preller Jordan I, 191 (3); Cp. Conway I, 110, 110 (1). 

(5) A. Sambon 392, Nos. 1021-1023, 1025, 1032, 1037. Cp. Head 34 
and Haberlin, Die Systematic des altesten rom* Miinzwesens 10, who attribute 
the silver coinage to the period 213-211 B. C. Poole 81 f; Garrucci 88; and. 
PL LXXXVI. 

(6) A. Sambon 405, Nos. 1050-1052. 

- 330 - 



Capua, they bear the name of Rome and should be studied in 
connection with that city rather than here (1). 

Another evidence for the presence of Jupiter appears in 
the name, Porta Iouis, applied to one of the principal entrances 
to the city. Its location is unknown, but it served as a means 
of ingress for the Roman armies that had been besieging the 
city in 211 B. C. The theory was held by some antiquarians 
that through it passed a road leading to a temple of ljupiter, but 
proofs for this view are lacking (2). Nissen thinks that it was 
situated in the eastern wall of the city, whence a road led to 
the shrine of Jupiter Tifatinus (3). 

Daniele believed that this road was in the vicinity of the 
place where an inscription mentioning Jupiter Liber or Liber (tas) 
was )found. Dated in the year 15 A. D., it records the names of 
six magistri who had had charge of the cult. Although there 
is no earlier evidence for this form of the god at Capua, he 
was undoubtedly a primitive deity worshipped by the old 
Italian residents here as in other places especially among the 
Sabellians. He was a god of marked physical vigor appealing 
strongly to an agricultural population (4). Perdrizet calls him 
(( the great god of Capua » but this statement seems an exag- 
geration (5). 

A rural deity Jupiter Compagus was worshipped in the 
pagus Herculaneus. His cult was in the hands of twelve over- 
seers according to the custom of the time; in the year 94 B. C. 
they were devoting the funds of the pagus to the construction 
of a portico (6). Nothing more is known about him, as no- 

(1) Haberlin, Die Systematik des dliesten rom. Miinzwesens 6 f; A. 
Sambon 421. 

(2) Daniele, Del culto di Giooe, di Diana, e di Ercole presso de' Cam. 
pani in Miscellanea Bonghi 70; Pellegrino Apparato alle antichita di Capua 
I, discorso II, 383; Beloch 346; Liv. XXVI, 14. 

(3) Nissen, It. Landesk, II, 716. See below p. 333. 

(4) C. /. L. X, 3786=Vaglieri 2103. Wissowa 120; Aust, Roscher II, 
637; Preller-Jordan I, 195. 

(5) Perdrizet, Jupiter, D.-S. Ill, 709. 

(6) C. /. L. X, 3772 = D. 6302=Vaglieri 2094: Pagus Herculaneus sciuit 
a. d. X Terminalia: conlegium seiue magistrei Iouei Compagei sunt utei in 
porticum paganam reficiendam pequniam consumerent ex lege pagana, arbi- 
trate Cn. Laetori Cn. f. magistrei pageiei (sic), uteique ei conlegio seiue ma- 

- 331 - 



where else is a Jupiter Compagus mentioned. The old scholar 
Mazzocchi in his extended commentary on the inscription 
maintained without good reason that the god belonged not to 
the pagus Herculaneus, which ought to worship Hercules, but 
to another district otherwise unnamed, where Jupiter was the 
chief god (1). 

Still another variation is seen in the title Jupiter Vesuvius, 
who had his seat upon the well known volcano. Veneration 
for this deity probably went back to the era of its early activity, 
and the remembrance of his power lingered through the long 
period while it was dormant. He was worshipped generally 
in the country surrounding the volcano, but evidence is at 
hand for his cult only at Capua, perhaps one of the farthest 
points to which his influence extended. He is named in an 
inscription of the Imperial period (2). 

Several inscriptions refer to the god without any quali- 
fying epithet. An altar of uncertain date but belonging to about 
the beginning of the first century B. C, when the magistri 
of the shrines flourished, bears the warning that no one should 
whitewash over it. To the same era (84 B. C.) belongs another 
mutilated inscription in which the magistri constructed for 
Jupiter a tank or cistern. The shrine to which reference is made 
is uncertain (3). Other epigraphical remains pertaining to 
this god include a brief dedication by M. Ennius Vtilis and a 



gistri sunt Iouei Compagei locus in teatro esset tarn qua sei sei (sic) ludos fe- 
cissent. (Followed by names of magistri and consuls.). Cp. R. Peter, Jovius 
Compagus (?), Roscher II, 296. 

(1) Mazzocchi, Commentarii in Campani amphitheatri titulum in Mis- 
scellanea Bonghi 101 f. Mazzocchi's view is approved by Daniele, Monete 
antiche di Capua 96. That this form of the god arose from the Jupiter Flagius 
mentioned above, as claimed by F. Lenormant is improbable. Ceres, D.-S. 
I. 1062. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 3806=D. 3079 = Vaglieri 1123: loui Vesuuio sac. d. d. 
Beloch 216. Cp. Waldstein and Shoobridge, Herculaneum 97; Cocchia, La 
forma del Vesuvio nelle pitture e descrizioni antiche in Atti Nap. XXI (1901) 
part I, 5 and Rend. Nap. XIII (1899) 47. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 3785 = VagIieri 2104: loui sacrum; hanc aram ne quis 

dealbet. £. E. VIII, 473^/V. S. 1889, 114=Vaglieri 2098: heisc.) mag. 

lacum Iouei de stipe et de sua pequn. faciund. coerauer. (Preceded by 

names of the magistri and followed by those of the consuls.). 

- 332 - 



large altar with the word Manes on one side, sacrum on the 
front, and loui on the other side (1). The combination of 
Jupiter with the Manes is odd, and Conway suggests that the 
word loui may be not a reference to the god but an abbrevia- 
tion for the gens louia. Mommsen conjectured that one side 
referred to a tomb, the other to an altar of the god, but admit- 
ted the strangeness of the combination. It does not seem pos- 
sible that Jupiter Flagius or any other form of the god previ- 
ously encountered was a chthonic deity. Most likely the god 
who is meant here is equivalent to Vediouis or to the Pluto 
who in another inscription from Capua is substituted for the 
Manes, and who here may be used like the Greek Zeus 
Chthonios (2). 

The cult of Jupiter Tifatinus having its seat on or near 
Mt. Tifata is not mentioned in ancient literature nor in inscrip- 
tions. But since the place where his shrine stood seems to be 
referred to in the Tabula Peutingerana under the appellation 
of Iouis Tifatinus, this notice may be regarded as an indication 
of wide celebrity at one time. There is, however, no certainty 
for the view stated by Nissen that the Porta Iouis derived its 
name from this god (3). The shrine has been variously lo- 
cated. According to one opinion it stood upon the summit of 
the mountain, where now rises the chapel of S. Nicola (4); 
according to another view it was located south of the mountain 
on the plain where now stands the monastic church of S. Pie- 
tro in Piedimonte near Caserta. Daniele asserted that the 
columns of this church and many marbles and columns of the 
Cathedral of Caserta came from the Jupiter temple. Pratilli 
claimed that the presence of the ancient shrine had greatly 
affected the local nomenclature, and a village in the vicinity 
called Casagiova or Casa nova may perhaps perpetuate the 



(1) C. /. L. X, 3801; loui sacr. M. Ennius Vtilis ; C. I. L. X, 3802= 
Vaglieri 1101. 

(2 Conway, The Italic Dialects I, 110 (1); Mommsen, comment on 
this inscription. Cp. R. Peter, Dis Pater Roscher I, 1186; Wissowa 236-237. 

(3) Nissen II. 716. 

(4) Desjardins, La table de Peut. 195, Col. 1 and PI. V. C. /. L. X, p. 59, 
No. 9. Cp. Badeker, Southern Ital§ and Sicily (15) 9. 

- 333 - 



ancient tradition (1). Beloch wished to locate the temple far- 
ther west and nearer Capua at no great distance from S. Prisco, 
but he was influenced in part at least by the erroneous suppo- 
sition that this temple was identical with the Capitolium of 
Capua (2). 

Other atter pts made by local antiquarians to identify the 
sites of supposed Jupiter temples, as that of Pratilli to establish 
a temple of Iupiter Tonans, have nothing to recommend 
them (3). Several other forms ,of Jupiter such as Olbius Sa- 
baeus, which Iannelli attempted to explain, depend upon 
spurious inscriptions published by Pratilli and others (4). 

CERES. 

Another important deity of the Capuan territory was Ceres, 
who was worshipped in the early centuries of the city's 
history by the primitive inhabitants before the arrival of 
any influences from either the Greeks or the Romans. The 
earliest evidence that she was recognized here goes back 
no farther than the third century B. C, when she had long 
been exposed to the influence of the Greek Demeter. At 
that time she was employed to mark a series of coins, where 
her head is crowned with ears of grain (5). 

The goddess is next mentioned in a long Oscan inscrip- 
tion, assigned to the third or to the first half of the second 
century B. C, which was discovered in the necropolis of Capua. 
This contains several examples of the expression Keri arentifyai, 
which is interpreted as equivalent to Ceres Vltrix (6). Written 

(1) Daniele, Misc. Bonghi 74; Pratilli, Delia Via Appia 277, who speaks 
of a Fontana di Giove and a Campo di Jove as well as a Casa Jove; Corcia, 
Storia delle due Sicilie II, 76. Cp. A. Sambon 392; Raoul-Rochette, Notice sur 

les fouilles de Capoue in Jour, des savants 1853, 283. 

(2) BelocK 360. 

(3) Pratilli, op. cii. 287. Refuted by Daniele 69. 

(4) Iannelli, Atti Terra di Lavoro 1892, 22. 

(5) A. Sambon 393, 397, No. 1027; Head 35; Garrucci 89. 

(6) Buck, No. 19= Conway, No. 130= von Planta, No. 128; Audollent, 
Defixionum tabellae, No. 193. The Oscan .name of the goddess occurs only 
in the dative. Cp. Bucheler, Rh. Mus. XXXIII (1878) 1 ; Bugge, Altitalische 
Studien 57; Breal, Revue critique n. s. V. (1878) 90; Audollent, op. cit. 

- 334 - 



upon a leaden tablet, this inscription is in substance a curse 
and belongs to that class of imprecations which were placed 
in graves because of their reputed efficacy as potent charms. 
Although a large part has been destroyed and the sense is 
often uncertain, the purport of the whole seems to be that a 
certain woman Vibia, because she has been deprived of some 
person or thing, consigns her enemy Pacius Clouatius and 
perhaps also his relatives to condign punishment and retri- 
bution. She hopes that he may be tortured in the existence 
beyond the grave and that his body may have no rest in the 
tomb through the instrumentality of the avenging goddess. 
She has the same relative position in the matter of curses that 
Demeter held in Greece, particularly at Cnidos, where the 
shrine of that goddess has yielded examples testifying to her 
power (1). 

As an agricultural deity Ceres was undoubtedly popular in 
this region. A shrine, which was probably located in one of the 
rural districts, is mentioned in an inscription bearing the date 
of 106 B. C. It was under the control of magistri, the list of 
whom in this case shows thirteen names instead of the usual 
twelve. On this occasion they erected a wall and a pluteus and 
celebrated games ; two years later they were engaged in similar 
activity (2). As in other parts of Campania the priesthood of 
Ceres must have been regarded as one of the highest of its 
kind and sought accordingly by the ladies of the first families. 
Three inscriptions have left a record of this priesthood, and 
have preserved the names of two incumbents of the office, - 
Icuria and Herennia (3). The former of these women bears 
the title sacerdos Cerialis mundialis in which the chthonic 
character of the goddess shown in the Oscan inscription is 
again manifested. This title then is in harmony with the al- 



257, No. 193; Paschal, La tavola osca di esecrazione in Rend. Nap. VIII (1894) 
128 f. 

(1) Audollent, Defixionum tabellae 5 f. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 3779=0. 3340 == Vaglieri 2097. Cp. C. /. L. X, 3778 of 
the same year. C. /. L. X, 3780 = D. 3341. (The magistri in this case are 
ingenui). 

(3) C. /. L. X, 3926=Vaglieri, 2092. Icuria M. f. sacerdos Cerialis 
mundialis d. s. p. f. c. C. /. L. X, 3911, a fragment. 

- 335 - 



legation of Festus that the Roman mundus was consecrated to 
Ceres (1). 

According to Pratilli the temple of this divinity was lo- 
cated at a spot near Mt. Tifata, which was called Casa Cerere 
in thirteenth and fourteenth century documents, and where 
statues and inscriptions have been found. This identification 
was favored by Raoul-Rochette and is perhaps correct (2). 

JUNO. 

The earliest record of this goddess appears upon a large 
number of bronze coins which are dated in the third century 
B. C. ; here she either is united with Jupiter as already indicated 
or is represented alone, having a crown upon her head and a 
scepter on her shoulder (3). Whether the employment of this 
design was due to an important local cult or to a desire to honor 
upon this money one of the important Roman deities is unknown. 
There is ho reason, however, to doubt the presence of an early 
cult here not only during the domination of the Etruscans but 
also during the period preceding it (4). 

A cult of Juno Gaura is proved by an interesting inscrip- 
tion of 71 B. C. pertaining to one of the rural districts. It records 
some action taken by the board of overseers controlling the 
shrine perhaps in regard to a slave of this goddess, but the brev- 
ity of form does not permit the meaning to be definitely deter- 
mined (5). This cult is naturally associated with Mt. Gaurus, 
now Monte Barbaro, which is situated at the southern edge of 

(1) Festus 142MU Lindsay's ed. p. 126. Macrob. (sat. I, 16, 17) on 
the other hand states that the mundus was sacred to Dis Pater and Proserpina. 
Pestalozza e Chiesa, Ceres Ruggiero II, 205; Henzen, Bull. Inst. 1857, 187; 
Minervini, Bull Nap. n. s. V (1857) 91. 

(2) Pratilli, Ddlla Via 'Appia 280; Corcia, op. cit. II, 74; Raoul-Ro- 
chette, op. cit. 286; Beloch 367. 

(3) A. Sambon 392, 401, Nos. 1038-1040, 1048; Head 35; Garrucci 88 f . ; 
Poole 83. 

(4) Cp. for a contrary opinion W. F. Otto, luno in Philologus LXIV 
(1905) 173 and see p. 294. 

(5) C. /. L. X, 37o3 = C. /. L. I, 573 = D. 6303=Vaglieri 2099: Heisce 
magistr. ex pagei scitu in seruom Iunonis Gaurae contule. (Preceded by a 
list of magistri and followed by the consuls). The meaning of this inscrip- 
tion is discussed by Schulten, De conventibus civium Romanorum 74 (1). 

- 336 - 



the Campanian plain a short distance from Puteoli. Although 
Mommsen assigned the cult of Juno Gaura to Capua, he reject- 
ed the view that she was connected with that mountain on the 
ground that at was not a part of the Capuan territory. Cicero, 
however, counted it as a part of the state domain, and the place 
called Hamae mentioned by Livy, which Beloch located on its 
slope, was considered by the Capuans as under their jurisdic- 
tion (1). Yet, however this may be, it is not essential that the 
mountain should be in the same jurisdiction as the cult. The 
goddess, whose seat was located there, was worshipped in one 
of the Campanian pagi just like the Jupiter of Mt. Vesuvius. Otto 
maintains that this cult like all worship of Juno in Campania 
was due to Roman influence and not a native development (2). 
But in this case we would expect to find a Juno cult recognized 
by the Romans rather than one connected with an obscure local 
mountain. In fact such a cult as this, which points to a develop- 
ment at an early period when only the limited local influences 
were at work has the best indications of great age. The fact of 
its survival amid the competition presented by cults undoubtedly 
new is a proof of original importance. 

On the other hand the Juno Lucina, who is mentioned in 
an, inscription of the Republican period, inscribed upon a pyr- 
amidal altar, may be an importation, although the inscription 
itself which records her is old. The words Tuscolana sacra, 
which follow the name of the goddess, are not well understood. 
According to one interpretation the dedication was made to 
Juno Lucina of Tusculum by some Roman colonist originally 
of that region, who wished to keep up relations with one of the 
leading divinities of his native land. According to another inter- 
pretation sacred rites were performed with the ceremonies adopt- 
ted at Tusculum (3). A similar altar was dedicated to another 
divinity honored with similar rites, but his identity can no longer 



(1) Cic. leg. agr. II, 36; Liv. XXIII, 35; Mommsen, C. J. L. X, 3783; Be- 
loch 16; Otto Phildlogus LXIV (1905) 173-174; Nissen II, 736. 

(2) Otto loc. cit. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 3807=D. 3099=Vaglieri 1099: Iunone Loucina Tusco- 
lana sacra. Ritschl, Priscae laiinitatis monumenta epigraphica XXXVI, and 
p. 30. 

- 337 - 

22 



be determined (1). Minervini believed that the pyramidal form 
of the altar indicated phallic worship and that the divinities 
recognized here were both .concerned with generation (2). 

VENUS IOVIA. 

The worship of Venus Iouia was carried on by one of the 
pagi whose magistri, consisting ,of twelve ingenui, constructed 
a stretch of wall and celebrated games in 108 B. C. (3). Noth- 
ing further is known about this particular deity, who was 
probably a survival from the Oscan era. That she was a trans- 
formation of an old Oscan goddess Vesuna or Vesolia, and was 
worshipped along with either Ceres or Juno Lucina in the 
Roman period as believed by F. Lenormant, is not a probable 
supposition and has no evidence to support it. But it is likely 
that she was some form of Venus and not a Juno, as is stated 
by Beloch (4). Pratilli as usual was ready to locate a temple, and 
this time declared that it stood near the ancient Forum in the 
eastern part of the present market place of S. Maria (5). 

THE MOTHER GODDESS OF THE FONDO PATTURELLI 

Whatever uncertainty may exist about the age of Juno's 
cult at Capua or even about that of Venus Iouia, there can be 
none in regard to the worship of another goddess who has never 
been definitely identified. Her shrine was situated to the east of 
the ancient city just outside the walls and not far from the 
course of the uia Appia. Remains consisting of a podium of tufa 
blocks, upon which still stood a small altar, were discovered in 
1845 upon the estate of the Patturelli family lying near the 

(1) C. /. L. X, 3808=D. 3099a. 

(2) Minervini, $vll. Nap. n. s. VII (1858) 18. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 3776 = a 3185=:V»glieri 2102: Heisce magistreis Venerus 
Iouiae murum aedificandum coirauexunt ped. CC1XX et loidos fecerunt. 
(Preceded by the names of the magistri and dated by the mention of the 
consuls). Ritschl. LXIIIa; C. /. L. X, 3777 = E. E. VIII 460. 

(4) F. Lenormant, La grande Grece I, 405 and Ceres, D.-S. I, 1062; 
Beloch 331. 

(5) Pratilli, Delia Via Appia 288. He claims for this site the discovery 
of a statue and a pedestal marked Venus Felix. Cp. Raoul-Rochette, Jour, 
des savants 1853, 287. 

- 338 - 



village of Le Curti between S. Pasquale and the Carceri Veo 
chie. The owner of the property, however, after making hasty 
sketches of the walls immediately destroyed them. At a later 
time excavations were made here, which yielded a great wealth 
of votive offerings as well as fragments of inscriptions written 
chiefly in Oscan. The result of all the discoveries indicates that 
an important cult had its seat here, and that it flourished in 
very early times (1). 

According to Koch, who has attempted the restoration of 
the podium and other architectural details of the temple, there 
was a rebuilding sometime after 300 B. C, which followed the 
styles of the Hellenistic period but exemplified some peculiari- 
ties not elsewhere paralleled (2). At that time the terra-cotta 
ornaments of the original building were buried in the surround- 
ing land (3). During the era of Oscan predominance the cult 
must have had a great vogue, if we are to judge from the vast 
number of votive offerings. Yet since these are uniformly of a 
cheap and simple character, the patrons of the shrine seem to 
have belonged chiefly to the lower classes. The latest evidence 
for its existence appears in the discovery of three small images 
with inscriptions in Latin, which have been assigned to the age 
of Sulla (4). They are all of the same type, - a seated fyroman 
holding children in her arms; they were dedicated by women 
who have failed to indicate in any way the name of the deity 
they were honoring (5). Perhaps the shrine gradually declined in 



(1) Mancini, Giornale degli scam di P. N. s. HI, 217 f . ; Raoul-Rochette, 
Notice sur les fouilles de Capotie in jour, des savants 1853 291 ; von Duhn, 
Necropoli e santuario di Capua in Bull. Inst. 1876, 177; 1878, 13; Lenormant, 
Gazette des beaux arts XXI (1880) 115; Beloch 353 f . ; Koch, Hellenistiche 
Architekturstiicke in Capua in Rom. Mitth. XXII (1907) 361 f. with full refer- 
ences to early literature. 

(2) Koch, op. cit 365. Cp. Cosenza, Stabia 122. 

(3) For a different explanation see Lenormant, Diane Tifatine in Gaz. 
arch. VII (1881-2) 82. 

(4) Altmann, Die rom. Grabaltare der Kaiserzeit 138. These figures are 
described and illustrated in Beschreibung der antigen Sfyilpturen of the Royal 
Museum of Berlin, Nos. 161-167 and Winter, Die Typen der figiirlichen Ter- 
rakotten I, 147. 

(5) C. /. L. X, 3817: Quarta Confleia u. s. m. X, 3818 and 3819 are 
fragmentary. 

- 339 - 



popularity after the Roman occupation ; at any rate the whole 
property was finally abandoned and then occupied by graves 
like the rest of the tract round about the walls (1). Besides 
the podium and the remains of altars an aedicula was discovered 
which with its foundations and columns was made from a single 
block of tufa (2). 

Unquestionably a goddess was worshipped here either with 
or without other divinities. Since the temple seemed to stand 
in the midst of a necropolis, von Duhn maintained that the 
goddess should be considered as a chthonic deity who received 
unto herself the souls of the departed (3). More likely, however, 
the shrine had no such relation to the dead, but became sur- 
rounded by graves with the lapse of time. Among the countless 
votive images bf terra-cotta the prevailing type was that of a 
matron seated upon a chair with one or more children upon her 
knees and in her arms. The inference naturally follows that we 
have here to do with a goddess of motherhood, who presided 
over birth and protected young children, - an example of the 
Nutrix or Kourotrophos (4). Dieterich $aw in this deity an 
example of the goddess who was worshipped as an earth-moth- 
er (5). One small statue of marble, representing a standing 
matron with a child in her arms, has sometimes been considered 
to be the cult statue, but this identification is not probable (6). 

The name of the occupant of this temple remains unknown. 
Some scholars have thought that it belonged to Juno Lucina, 
and Conway, referring to the character of the dedications, 



(!) Koch, loc. cit and 411, 414. Cp. Beloch 355; von Duhn, Necropoli 
e santuario di Capua in Bull Inst. 1876, 182, who assigns these offerings, to 
the period of the Flavian Emperors. 

(2) Koch 389; Altmann loc. cit 

(3) von Duhn 180 f. 

(4) von Wilamowitz, Bull Inst 1873, 146; Gurlitt, Petauer 'Anttken in 
Archaologisch-epigraphische Mitt, aus Oester. ; XIX (1896) 18; Wissowa 

260(1); Koch 412 f. ; Beloch 356; Premier, Jahresbericht tiber die Fortschritte 
der Alterthumsw. XXV (1891) 439; Altmann op. cit 138; Biardot, Les terres- 
cuites grecques funibres 336; Winter, Die Typen der figurlichen Terrakpt- 
ten I, CXV (4). 

(5) Dieterich, Mutter Erde (2) 79. 

(6) von Duhn, Bull. Inst (1878), 13; Gurlitt, loc. cit. 

- 340 - 



regards the identification >as certain (1). There has likewise 
been a tendency recently revived by Koch, to consider that a 
goddess Damia was worshipped here, who in reality was no 
other than the Roman Bona Dea, as has been already stated in 
the chapter on Puteoli. In the Oscan inscriptions found in the 
vicinity the terms damu...., damuse...., and damsennias may 
refer to offerings or ceremonies connected with a goddess 
Damia (2). Guidobaldi, who was a pioneer in making the 
identification between Damia and Bona Dea, believed that 
Damuse referred to a priestess (3). If this cult really existed 
here, it probably came from Tarentum and so this city may 
have formed an intermediate point on the road which it fol- 
lowed to reach Rome (4). The goddess seems to have been 
originally very much like Ceres. Whether the two Oscan words 
Diuvia and damu.... should be read together, as was done by 
most of the earlier scholars, and considered as a name for the 
divinity corresponding to the Latin louia Damusa is uncer- 
tain (5). Other scholars as Hild and Wissowa, comparing the 
known characteristics of this divinity with those of Fortuna 
are inclined to decide that she too may be a Fortuna, - a theory 
that seems the most probable of those offered hitherto for the 
explanation of this cult (6). 

It is furthermore uncertain that a triad of Oscan deities was 
worshipped here as is claimed by some scholars. Thus Lenor- 
mant, believing in the existence of louia Damusa, maintained 
that with her were associated her two children Jupiter Flagius 

(1) Mancini, op. cit. 236 f. ; Conway, The Italic Dialects I, p. 109. He 
thinks that she may have shared her shrine with Jupiter, as Zeus was wor- 
shipped with Hera at Dodona. (Strab. VI, 7, 12). 

(2) Buck, No®. 24, 31b. Cp. Festus 68M = Lindsay's ed. p. 360, for 
damium expressing a sacrifice to Bona Dea, and Damia for the deity's name. 

(3) Guidobaldi, Damia o buona dea 2 f. ; Cp. Saglio, Damia, D.-S. 
II, 21. 

(4) Gruppe 370 ; F. Lenormant, Ceres, D.-S. I, 1076. 

(5) Lenoxmant, Ceres, D.-S. I, 1062; R. Peter, Damia, Roscher I, 
944; Biicheler, Oskische Bleitafel in Rh. Mus. XXXIII (1878) 71 f . ; Cp. Bugge 
Altitalische Studien 12; Corssen E. E. p. 161, No. 10 and Zeitschr. fur ver~ 
gleichende Sprachforschung XI (1862) 322. 

(6) Wissowa, 260 (1); Hild, Fortuna, D.-S. II, 1270; Otto, Fortuna r 
P.-W. VII, 25; Altmann, Die rom. Grabaltare 138. 

- 341 - 



and Vesolia (I). But it has not been established that the former 
was worshipped here, as we do not know the exact spot where 
the inscription naming him was found, and there is no real evi- 
dence for a goddess Vesolia, or Vesuna in the extant material (2). 

MARS. 

The term Mamerttiais (Martiis) applied in one instance to 
the Ides of the month and probably used generally in connec- 
tion with festivals in honor of the god Mars occurs repeatedly 
in the Oscan iouUae inscriptions of the third century B. C. (3). 
These form the earliest evidence for his influence at Capua. 
Although he is employed regularly as a design upon bronze 
coins of the Romano-Campanian issues, he does not appear 
upon the city's autonomous coinage. He had a temple, which 
was struck by lightning in the year 208 B. C, an event that 
was considered as one of the many evil omens of the time (4). 
Raoul-Rochette, citing Pratilli, is inclined to believe in a tradi- 
tion that the site of this temple was selected by Constantine 
for the Christian basilica which that monarch erected at Capua, 
but Pratilli asserts only that the place was sacred to Mars or 
some other god (5). JSlothing is known about the worship of 
Mars, but it seems to have been one of the old cults of native 
origin. 



(1) Lenoimant, Ceres, D.-S. I, 1062; Diane Tifaiine in Gaz. arch. 
VII (1881-82); La grande Grece I, 405 ; Deux nouvautes archeologiques de la 
Campanie in Gaz. des beaux arts XXI (1880) 120. 

(2) Conway, It. Dialects, I, No. 120. Cp. Nos. 109, 110 and p. 110; 
Corssen, E. E. p. 161, No. 11. Minervini, Bull. Nap. n. s. II (1854) 167 thinks 
that the old Italian goddess Ferohia is meant here. If the temple belonged to 
Damia, there would be nothing improbable in the idea that a triad received 
honor here. At Sparta indeed Damia was worshipped along with Zeus Tale- 
titas and a goddess Auxesia, and at Aegina and Epidaurus, with the latter 
alone. Cp. Kern, Damia, P.-W. IV, 2054. 

(3) Buck p. 247, Nos 27, 28, 29. See p. 329 above, and cp. Roscher., 
Mars, II, 2394. 

(4) Liv. XXVII, 23, 2: Capuae duas aedes Fortunae et Martis et se- 
pulchra aliquot de caelo tacta. 

(5) Pratilli, Delia Via Appia 275 ; Raoul-Rochette; Jour, des savants, 
1853, 287-8. 

- 342 - 



FORTUNA. 

The cult of Fortuna, who seems to have been another old 
deity of this region, is first heard of at the close of the third 
century B. C. Among the list of prodigies for the year 209 B. C. 
Livy states that the wall and temple of Fortuna at Capua were 
struck by lightning, and the next year, when the temple of 
Mars was also struck, declares that this shrine along with a 
number of tombs suffered a similar mishap (1). Pratilli claims 
to have found evidence for the continued survival of the names 
of this shrine and that of Mars in a document of the monastery 
of S. Angelo dated 1148 (2). As stated above, the mother 
goddess who had a sanctuary near the city (Fondo Patturelli) 
has been identified by some scholars as a Fortuna similar in 
nature to the one at Praeneste and perhaps at Antium (3). On 
Oscan coins a Tyche or Fortuna seems to be represented by a 
female head that is encircled with a notched coronet (4). 
Furthermore this goddess was revered in one of the pagi, where 
she has a shrine along with Spes and Fides. In the year HOB. 
C. the magistri, who were probably all tngenui, are reported as 
building a wall. Other details of the cult are lacking (5). 

CASTOR AND POLLUX. 

Within the city itself there is no direct reference to the 
cult of Castor and Pollux. In the year 340 B. C, however, a 
bronze tablet was placed in the Roman temple of these deities 
to commemorate the services rendered to the cause of Rome 
by the Capuan aristocracy, whence Jordan inferred that the 
Twins were accepted as patrons by the equites in this city as 



(1) Liv. XXVII, 11, 2; Tactia de caelo erant et Capua© mums 

Fortunaeque aedis. Liv. XXVII, 23, 2, See above p. 342 (4). 

(2) Finis ecdlesia S. Nicolai ad Fortunam and Campu S. Marci. Pra- 
tilli, Delia Via 'Appia 288, Corcia Storia delle due Sicilie II, 72. 

(3) Hild, Fortuna, U.S. II, 1269. See p. 341. 

(4) A. Sambon 397, Nos. 1028, 1035, 1036. 

(5) C. /. L. X, 3775 = D. 3770=Vagiieri 2101 : Heisc mag. Spei, Fidei, 
Fortunae murum faciund, coirauere. (Preceded by names of magistri and 
dated by the mention of the consuls). 

- 343 - 



in Rome (1). Fur twang Jer erroneously speaks of their (cult as 
though it had been introduced here and elsewhere in Campania 
from Rome (2). But it was rather brought in at an early date 
from the Greek settlements on the coast. Albert incorrectly 
compares the introduction of their cult to the arrival of Zeus, 
Hera and Artemis; for in the latter case the Greek gods were 
assimilated to pre-existing Italian ones, while in the former they 
probably preserved their identity unimpaired (3). The Dios- 
curi were certainly worshipped in at least one of the rural 
pagi surrounding the city, and possessed a shrine under the 
control of magistri, who in the year 106 B. C. were engaged 
in the construction of a wall, besides providing games to 
amuse their constituents (4). The inscription recording this 
fact was found in the plain of S. Leucio near the church of 
S. Erasmo just west of the ancient city limits; here in Pratilli's 
time extensive remains of a large building still survived, which 
that writer declared to have belonged "to the temple of these 
gods (5). A further evidence for the location of the temple 
in this vicinity may be derived from the circumstance that a 
church consecrated to S. Erasmo was built here. The func- 
tions ascribed to the Twin Brethren and to this saint whose 
name became corupted to S. Elmo, were similar; he too was 
regarded as a saviour on the sea, and would naturally in this 
spot receive the homage once consecrated to the Dioscuri (6). 
Another inscription seven years later than the first, which 



(1) Liv. VIII, 11, 16: Equitibus Campanis ciuitas Romana data, mon- 
umentoque ut aeneam tabulam in aede Castonis Romae finxerunt. Preller- 
Jordan II 301. Cp. Bethe, Dioscuren, P.-W. V, 1104. 

(2) Furtwangler, Dioscuren, Roscher 1, 1169. 

(3) Albert, Etude sur le culte de Castor et Pollux 47. 

(4) C. I. L. X, 3778=C. /. L. I, 567 = D. 3397 == Vaglieri 2095: Heisce 
magistri Castor' et Polluci murum et pluteum faciendu, coerauere eidemque 
loedos fecerunt. (Preceded by the names of six ingenui and six libertini and 
followed by the names of the consuls). 

(5) Pratilli, op. cit. 289. That this spot was the site of a temple was 
doubted by Raoul-Rochette Journal des savants 1853, 286 and by Beloch 353. 
Excavations on the site yielded little. Minervini, Bull. Nap. n. s. VI (1857) 22. 

Cp. Iannelli, Bull Nap. n. s. VI (1857) 21 ; Albert op. cit. 47. 

(6) Jaisle, Die Dioskaren als Retter 65, 69. 

- 344 - 



came from the vicinity of Mt. Tifata, states that their images 
in marble were placed in the temple of Diana. It offers not the 
least evidence, as believed by Furtwangler, for the location of 
a temple of the Dioscuri on that mountain (I). 

Albert in his monograph treating these gods draws very 
strange conclusions from these inscriptions about the relations 
of ihe Romans to the local cult (2). In the first place he 
asserts that the Twins were Greek divinities up to the time of 
the First Punic War, but that after that date they should be 
regarded as Romanized. We may wonder, however, what partic- 
ular influence that struggle in the middle of the third century 
B. C. exerted toward the strengthening of Roman power in 
Campania. He further states that the Romans in order better to 
mark their act of taking possession of Capua — presumably after 
the Second Punic War — instituted festivals on two occasions 
in honor of the twin deities and repaired their temple, which 
he identifies with the one described by Pratilli. In other words 
he maintains that the work of the magistri was all due to Roman 
initiative, and implies that they themselves were Roman offi- 
cials. But it is strange that this activity should happen at the 
end of the second century B. C, so long after the event it was 
designed to commemorate. Again, such a view disregards entire- 
ly the doings of magistri connected with other shrines, whose 
work was on a level with that of the overseers of the Dioscuri, 
and who could equally well be attributed to Roman influence. 
As a matter of fact we are dealing with a local shrine of minor 
importance; neither the building operations of its magistri nor 
their games were of special significance. To assume that the 
Romans were fostering all the cults in connection with which 
games were given or shrines improved is to attribute to the 
conquerors a procedure that was far from natural. If these had 
felt any need for the gods of the vanquished, they might have 
introduced them at Rome, - a course that was not feasible in 
this instance, because the Dioscuri had long been recognized 



1169. 



(1) C. /. L. X, 3781. See p. 324 (4); Furtwangler, Dioskuren, Roscher I. 

(2) Albert, op. cit. 65. 

- 345 - 



there (1). But there was no reason why they should minister 
either to the religious welfare or to the love of .pleasure of the 
people of Capua, their rebellious subjects and haughty rivals. 
In short, Albert's treatment of this cult at Capua must be classed 
as completely erroneous. 

HERCULES. 

The oldest trace of the presence of Hercules is found upon 
a bronze cinerary urn which was unearthed at the village of 
S. Erasmo near S. Maria di Capua (2). This is a Greek work 
of superior quality belonging to the fifth or the end of the sixth 
century B. C. ; although it was probably made in a factory of 
Cumae, it may be taken for granted that a knowledge of the god 
and of the legends in which he was the hero was well estab- 
lished in the district to which this Vessel found its way (3). It 
contains a strip of decorative figures running around it, and 
these include among other animals the cattle of Geryon, which 
are accompanied by Hercules himself. The hero is armed with 
club, bow, and lion's skin, and looks toward the figure of a 
man who is tied to the limb of a tree by wrists and ankles. In 
this scene Hercules himself is not to be regarded as the thief 
of the cattle, but rather as having them already in his posses- 
sion and warding off the attack of some foe such as Cacus or 
Erys, who has just met his doom (4). Probably some little 

(J) The cult of the Volturwus River, if it had really been introduced 
into Rome from this region, would be a good example of the transfer of gods 
alluded to in the text. 

(2) It is now in the British Museum, Protrayed in Mon. Inst. V. PI. 25; 
Ann. Inst XXIII (1851) add. PI. A.; Walters Cat. of the Bronzes in the British 
Museum 80, No. 560. 

(3) von Duhn, Monumenti capuani in Ann. Inst. LI (1879) 130; Helbig., 
Sopra alcuni bronzi trovati a Cuma e a Capua in Ann. Inst. LII (1880) 233; 
Furtwangler, Archaische Lekythen in Arch. Zeit. XLI (1883) 162; Walters in 
Munzer, Cacus der Rinderdieb 122; Smith, Heracles and Geryon in Jour., 
Hell. Stud. V (1884) 179. 

(4) The suspended figure was identified as Cacus by Minervini, Vaso 
di bronzo rinvenuto in S. Maria di Capua in Ann. Inst. XXIII (1851) 36 f . ; 
who is followed by Raoul-Rochette, Jour, des savants 1853, 473. R. Peter, 
Hercules, Roscher I, 2275 ; and Walters loc. cit. Wolters, op. cit. 123 thinks of 
Eryx. Cp. Wissowa, Cacus t P.-W. Ill, 1169; Winter, The Myth of Hercules 
at Rome in Unit?, of Michigan Studies IV, 268; Birch, Arch. Anzeiger 1855, 
61 ; Robert, Hermes XIX (1884) 480 (1). 

- 346 - 



known version of Hercules* adventures, which was circulated 
chiefly in Campania, is the theme of the decoration. 

He appears upon two series of bronze coins with Oscan 
legend, which are dated in the third century B. C. The prevail- 
ing type is that of a beardless, heavy faced man wearing a 
crown, whose identity is fixed by the presence of a club (I). 
Sometimes upon the reverse is shown Cerberus, the dog of 
Hades, a design which Raoul-Rochette derived from the Cer- 
berum near Cumae (2). Furthermore, the only one of the pagi 
whose name has been preserved was called Herculaneus. It 
contained a shrine of Jupiter, as stated above, but its location 
is unknown (3). Perhaps in it was also situated a ishrine of 
Hercules himself, the magistri of which are mentioned in a 
badly mutilated inscription (4). Daniele speaks of a supposed 
temple in the vicinity of Caserta to the west of the ancient 
Capua, the remains of which were reported as still standing 
during the life time of Cardinal Santorio, an earlier writer. But 
in Daniele's day there was no longer any trace of them (5). 

A short dedication by Sp. Suetrius to Hercules is assigned 
to an early date because of the absence of cognomen and the 
use of Spurius as a praenomen (6). Another dedication made 
by a family of the Nouelli addresses the god as tutor, an epithet 
not used elsewhere to designate him. It alludes, however, to 
the familiar significance of the god as protector of house and 
home. The monument consists of an altar with sculptured 
reliefs, which include Hercules and the lion, his club and his 
quiver (7). More important is an inscription belonging to the 
age of Augustus, which records that a certain freedman P. 
Ateius Regillus had thrice during his lifetime offered tithes to 

(1) A. Sambon 402, No*. 1044, 1045; Head 35 

(2) Raoul-Rochette, Jour, des savants 1853, 694; L. Sambon, Let Monti, 
de la presquile it. 171. Cp. A. Sambon, 393. The face upon one series, the 
obverse of which shows a lion holding a staff, was identified as that of 
Dionysus by Poole p. 84. 

(3) See p. 331. 

(4) N. S. 1893, 164. About half has been lost. 

(5) Daniele, Monete antiche di Capua 89 

(6) C. /. L. X, 3798; Sp. iSuetrius Sp. f. H(ercoli) d. d. A fragment; 
{C. 1. L. X, 3797) seems also to commemorate this god. 

(7) C. /. L. X, 3799 = D. 3443 = Vagi ieri 1091: Herculi tutori domus 

. 347 - 



Hercules (1). The same custom, which formed a well known 
detail of his cult at Rome, has left its traces in a few other 
Italian towns including Sora and Reate. The origin of the 
practice here and elsewhere is not clear. It was not a native 
custom belonging to the old Italic religion as maintained by 
Preller ; for in that event other gods rather than Hercules would 
have been the recipients, since he was not an old deity of 
Italy (2). Instead it was derived at a late date from the Roman 
cult, after Roman influence became paramount in Campania. 
The Romans may have derived their idea of tithing from the 
Greeks, and in some way associated it with this god. An inde- 
pendent borrowing in Campania from the Greeks is practically 
excluded by the fact that the Greek Heracles rarely received 
this mark of honor. The inscriptions which mention the practice 
outside of Rome are too late in date to throw any light on its 
origin (3). Other inscriptions purporting to attest the worship 
of Hercules at Capua and cited by local historians are spurious. 
The god is represented along with his club and a cornucopia 
by terra-cotta images of rather rough workmanship, which 
were unearthed at the neighboring village of Curti (4). 

THE CAMPANIAN MAGISTRI. 

It now becomes necessary to consider more in detail the 
religious officials called magistri, who have appeared in a con- 
siderable number of the inscriptions already cited. The exact 
nature of the office filled by these men is disputed, but they 

Nouelliana. Daniele op. cit. 92 gives a reproduction. Cp. Calza, Domus, Rug- 
giero II, 2059; Cesano, Hercules, Ruggiero III, 713; Peter, Hercules, Roscher 
I, 2958. 

(1) C. /. L. X, 3956 = D. 3413=Vaglieri 1084: P. Ateius P. I. Regillus 
fecit sibi et P. Ateio P. 1. Saluio patron, pomario; is ter Herculi decumam 
fecit etc. 

(2) Preller-Jordan II, 294. Cp. Peter, Roscher I, 2937; de Marchi, 
J/ culto privato I, 295 (3). 

(3) A discussion of tithing and a summary of opinion is given by 
Winter op. cit. 261 ; Cesano, Hercules, Ruggiero III, 697. 

(4) Berlin Antiquarium, Nos. 7323, 7324; Winter, Die Typen der fig- 
iirlichen Terrakptten II, 381, No. 7; Fernique, Recentes acquisitions du Musee 
de Capoue in Rev. arch. XXXIV (1877) 124; Furtwangler, Herakles in der 
Kunst, Roscher I, 2159. 

- 348 - 



were undeniably connected with the divisions of the people 
known as pagi. These according to ancient Italian usage were 
definite portions of a given rural territory formed for adminis- 
trative purposes with officers who possessed a certain limited 
authority; like all other organizations that developed in the 
ancient world, they were essentially religious in character and 
had shrines for the performance of their religious duties. Fur- 
thermore, they were sometimes named after gods, a system of 
nomenclature exemplified by the pagus Herculaneus (1). 

When the autonomous government of Capua was dissolved 
by the Romans after its recapture in 21 1 B. C, there was no 
longer a legally constituted local authority for the city or the 
outlying districts. All the various functions of government 
passed into the hands of the Roman people to be administered 
by their delegated representative. It has been suspected, 
however, that the old, essentially religious organizations of the 
pagi enlarged somewhat the sphere of their activity to meet the 
new conditions, and thereby preserved for the country some 
measure of self government (2). Corresponding to these organ- 
izations of the open country there existed within the walls for 
the city folk various collegia grouped around the principal trades 
and professions, one name of which has survived to the present 
day (3). Their basis too was a religious one. Although the 
evidence for the magistri belongs to the end of the second and 
the beginning of the first century B. C. , there is no sign that 
they were introduced or fostered by Roman influence except 
so far as they were aided by the Romans who settled in this 
region and took up the worship of the gods of the land (4). 
They flourished at that time to meet local needs, probably 
gradually developing in importance from the close of the Han- 



(1) Hazfeld, Les Italiens residant a De>los in Bull corr. hell XXXVI 
(1912) 188; Schulten, De conventibus civium Romanorum 106; and Die Land- 
gemeinde im rom. Reiche in Philologus LI II, (1894) 634 f. 

(2) Mommsen in C. /. L. X, p. 366 and I, 159; Boak, The « Magistri » 
of Campania and Delos in Classical Philology XI (1916) 25; Kornemann, De 
civibus Romanis in provinciis imperii consistentibus 50 f. ; Schulten, De con* 
ventibus civium Romanorum 71 i . ; and Philologus LIII (1894) 634. 

(3) C. J. L. X, 3773. 

(4) Albert, Biude sur le culte de Castor el Pollux 47. See p. 343 above. 

- 349 - 



nibalic War, and they retained their importance till the arrival 
of the Roman colonists (1). 

The magistri or boards of supervisors, who are mentioned 
in the pagi, are always engaged in the oversight of a particular 
shrine. The various cults which they had in charge comprise 
those of Diana, Ceres, Jupiter Compagus, Jupiter Liber, Juno 
Gaura, Venus Jovia, Spes Fides and Fortuna, Castor and Pol- 
lux, arid probably Hercules (2). They have left records of 
their activity for the period between 112-111 and 71 B. C. Their 
term of office seems to have been limited to a single year (3). 
Their number was regularly twelve; in one case thirteen names 
are recorded, but this oddity may be explained by the fact that 
a vacancy arose during the term of this body of supervisors and 
was filled by another appointment (4). The holders of the 
office did not always belong to the same social condition; out 
of a total of eleven references to the magistri five exhibit only 
ingenui, four show libertini, and two contain officials of both 
classes (5). In any case they were doubtless men of wealth, 
whose only opportunity for holding office at this time could be 
found among the magistri (6). In one inscriptions has been pre- 
served the name and title of an official of a different sort, - the 
ingenuus Cn. Laetorius, magister of the pagus Herculaneus, 
who had the oversight over the expenditure of money voted 
by his district for the improvement of a shrine within its juris- 



(1) Mommsen, C. /. L. X, p. 366; Schuiten, De conventibus civium 
Romanorum 639. 

(2) C. /. h. X, 3772 f; E. E. VIII, 460, 473; N. S. 1893, 164. A list 
of magistri is found in Walzing, Etude historique sur les corporations profes- 
sionnelles IV, 224. 

(3) At any rate the composition of the board of magistri for Ceres 
changed between 106 and 104 B. C. (C. /. L .X, 3779, 3780). 

(4) Mommsen, C. /. L. X, p. 367; Boak, op. cit. 31. The thirteen 
names occur in No. 3779. 

(5) Ingenui are found in Nos. 3775, 3776 (E. £. VIII, 460) 3780, 3782, 
3784; Libertini occur in 3772, 3779, 3785. E. E. VIII, 473. The two classes 
appear together twice, once in the proportion of six and six and once in the 
proportion of three and nine. (3778, 3783). 

(6) Mommsen, C. /. L. X, p. 367 ; Boak, op. cit. 33 ; Cp. Hatzfeld, op. cit. 
186. 

- 350 - 



diction. The sanctuary was that of a local Jupiter, a list of 
whose supervisors is attached (1). 

It is maintained by Hatzfeld that each of the various 
shrines with magistri belonged to a different pagus and was 
the center of the religious activity of that district. In every case 
the pagus formed a religious association at whose head stood 
the board of magistri composing the supreme administrative 
body of the locality. According to this view the office filled by 
Laetorius was a subordinate position devoted to the manage- 
ment of the finances (2). But, if the twelve Commissioners 
who were in office at the same time as Laetorius were the heads 
of a religious association comprising the dwellers of the pagus, 
they ought to be called either magistri of the pagus or prefer- 
ably magistri of Hercules, the divinity who gave his name to 
it and presumably was recognized as its chief deity. Instead 
they are named after another god, who certainly had a shrine 
but probably not the leading one. Again, the magister of the 
pagus was an ingenuus, while the twelve supervisors were of 
a lower social status. Although in some other cases they were 
freemen and thus of the same position in society as the magister 
pagi, it seems improbable to suppose that an ingenuus held an 
office subordinate to the libertini. Boak further objects that it is 
impossible to regard these magistri as the presidents of a reli- 
gious college, since they are specifically called a collegium and 
assigned posts of honor in the theater. Hatzfeld himself, how- 
ever, admits that the twelve officers formed a collegium (3). 

The older opinion of Mommsen, which in its general lines 
has recently been defended by Boak, seems preferable. Momm- 
sen believed that there were a considerable number of districts 
each of which had an administrative officer such as Laetorius 
of the pagus Herculaneus, while the magistri of the various 
shrines occupied a subordinate position limited to the oversight 



(J) C. /. L. X, 3772 = D. 6302. Likewise a small fragment appears to 
contain the reading p]ag(i) magis[ter, followed by the word magistri to head 
the list of officials of a shrine. Cp. Boak, op. cit. 28 (2). 

(2) Hazfeld, op. cit. 186 f. 

(3) Boak 29 f. ; Hatzfeld 187. 

- 35! • 



of these sanctuaries (1). Schulteh accepted this opinion about 
the relationship existing between the supervisors of the shrines 
and a higher authority, but supposed that they were all connect- 
ed with the pagus Herculaneus and that the city of Capua 
formed a part of it (2). 

Yet, although the colleges of magistri occupied a subor- 
dinate position, it was not an insignificant one. They had 
charge of all the property of their deity, and were expected to 
repair and improve it (3). In some cases, as in the erection of 
an altar, the construction of a chapel, and the purchase of 
images, their improvements were distinctly connected with the 
cult which they served. In other cases such as the building of a 
tank or walls their connection with any form of religion is less 
manifest; yet this work was probably carried through on temple 
property, and the walls were perhaps designed to enclose the 
sacred precinct. They also disbursed money from the temple 
treasury. On one occasion they constructed seats in the theatre, 
but this action was in line with their relation to public amuse- 
ment (4). In fact, unless they were definitely instructed by 
their pagus to perform some service for their shrine which 
consumed all their stipulated contribution, they were expected 
to provide games for the amusement of their constitpents (5). 
In return for their time and money they received recognition to 

(1) Mommsen, C. /. L. X, p. 366 f. ; Boak 25 f. There is ho evidence 
for the existence of more than one magister pagi as distinguished from the 
twelve magistri fanorum regularly found. Cp. Mommsen p. 367 and the lex 

Coloniae Genetiuae, E. E. II, p. 115; Schulten, Philologus LIII (1894) 641; 
Waltzing, Etude sur les corps prof. 1 , 42. 

(2) Schulten, De conventibus 73 f. He thinks that the magistri men- 
tioned in Nos. 3778, 3779, 3782 are the collegium called elsewhere that of 
Jupiter Compagus. 

(3) Boak, Class. Phil. XI (1916) 30; Mommsen, C. /. L. X, p. 367. 

(4) The list of building operations and other improvements include 
murus (3775, 3776 = 3777 = £. E. VIII, 460), murus et pluteus (3778, 3779, 3780), 

murus(?) et pilae IIH (3774), murus calcidicum porticus signa marmorea (3781), 
porticus (3772), ara (3785), lacus (E. E. VIII, 473), sucrunda (sic) porticiisque 
(N .S. 1893 164). 

(5) An account of other officers, who exhibited similar amusements, 
is given by Mommsen, C. /. L. I, p. 159; Cp. Marquardt, Rom. Staatsverwal- 
tung I, 180, These magistri in their functions and prerogatives are compared 
by Mourlot (Vhistoire de Vaugustalite 25) to the magistri uicorum. 

- 352 - 



the extent of having privileged seats in the theater, and were 
doubtless deemed worthy of other marks of honor. Nowhere 
else indeed were places of honor at the theater given to simple 
magistri, nor did those of Capua enjoy this distinction after the 
enactment of the lex Iulia (I). 

The fact that the building of walls is mentioned in so 
many records seems significant. Thus the magistri of most of 
the shrines shared in that activity ; those of Ceres were engaged 
in the task during the years 106 and 104 B. C. and in the former 
year those of Castor and Pollux as well. Hatzfeld maintains 
that the magistri of both cults, belonging to separate pagi, were 
engaged in the construction of a wall which was common pro- 
perty and therefore indicative of a common religious center (2). 
But according to his theory each district represented one distinct 
religious organization devoted in the one case to the worship 
of Ceres and in the other to the cult of the Dioscuri. It seems, 
therefore, unreasonable to suppose that there was a consolida- 
tion of the two shrines on the border between the two pagi, 
especially since it is known that other officials performed else- 
where a similar work. All these shrines where a wall is men- 
tioned were plainly not located in the same spot. 

Mommsen on the contrary believed that the magistri of 
Ceres, Venus Iouia Diana, Spes, and the Dioscuri all belonged 
to one and the same pagus located near Mt. Tifata and distin- 
guished chiefly by the worship of Diana (3). He too made pse 
of the evidence about the walls to establish this conclusion, 
maintaining that an enclosing wall to surround Diana's sacred 
precinct is meant; in particular he pointed to the circumstance 
that the height of walls given in two cases is approximately 
the same, - twenty - one and twenty - two feet (4). Although 
it seems a little strange that the overseers of Ceres of Spes or 
Venus Iouia should expend their funds for the advantage of 
another and rival shrine, this objection may be overcome by 
recalling that the expenditure was made in consequence of a 

(1) Mommsen, C. 1. L. I, p. 159b. 

(2) Hatzfeld, Bull. corr. hell XXXVI (1912) 186. Cp. Boak op, cit. 32. 

(3) Mommsen, C. /. L. I, p. 159; X, p. 367. 

(4) C. /. L. X, 3779, 3780. They bear the dates respectively of 108 and 
106 B. C. 

- 353 - 

23 



scittitn of the inhabitants of the community, who might conceiv- 
ably wish their chief shrine to prosper at the expense of the 
more insignificant. But an examination of the evidence cited for 
the wall shows that the two inscriptions which name a similar 
altitude both record the work of the magistri of Ceres, who 
would naturally be occupied with the same task during the 
period of two or three years for which there is evidence, partic- 
ularly if this was done for the improvement of their own shrine. 
Perhaps some of the other magistri, as for instance those of 
Venus Iouia devoted funds to the construction of the same 
piece of work, but this is not an essential supposition (I). Nor 
does the provenience of the inscriptions indicate that they orig- 
inated in the district of Diana's itemple. In many cases their 
origin is unknown. One, it is true, was found in that vicinity, 
but it is concerned with the cult of Diana, and on internal evi- 
dence alone would be assigned to that spot. On the other hand, 
the inscription commemorating the Dioscuri is said to have been 
found around S. Leucio and therefore near the site of the city 
itself (2). 

As the members of the free population were chosen for 
the office of magister, so the slaves sometimes united under the 
name of ministri in colleges, the number of whose members 
here also was regularly twelve. Apparently they were required 
to make some payment or perform some service, but no definite 
information on this point is available. In one case with the date 
of 98 B. C. they have the oversight of the Lares and attend to 
the construction of something for the cult ; in another instance, 
belonging to the year 26 B. C, there is no clue to the name of 
the shrine they serve nor to their mode of serving it (3). The 

(1) Mommsen too admits this view as possible in another place 
(C. /. L t X, p. 367). « Alios quoque pagos in opimo hoc territorio fuisse ve- 
risimile est, fierique potest, ut magistrorum fanorum illorum quos supra in 
Tifatis recensuimus alii ad alios pagos pertinuerint ». The height of the waif 
suggests that it was a retaining wall of some sort rather than a mere enclo- 
sure for the temenos. 

(2) C. I. L. X, 3781, 3778. 

(3) C. J. L. X, 3789 =D. 3609 = Vaglieri 2100: Hisce ministris Laribus 
faciendum coe(rarunt. (The names of twelve slaves appear here). Haec pon- 

dera et pauimentum faciendum et C. /. L. X, 3790. Cp. Mourlot op. cit. 

25. Wissowa 171 (10); Boak, op. tit. 35. 

- 354 * 



ministri who appear under the designation candidati will be 
treated later (1). 

MINOR DIVINITIES. 

Apollo and Athena are both represented upon the third 
century Oscan coinage in bronze; the former wears now an 
Athenian and now a Corinthian helmet, Apollo bears a wreath 
of laurel (2). While this usage indicates that the two deities 
were not unknown here, it was due more to influence from 
without, which fixed the type of the coins, than to the presence 
of a real cult with its shrine. In fact outside of the Greek settle- 
ments and the coast towns especially subject to their influence 
these gods did not become popular in Campania. Pratilli without 
warrant as usual claimed a temple for Athena (3). A sculptur- 
ed relief upon which she appears *will be treated in another 
place (4). 

Corcia, following the lead of earlier writers, tried to estab- 
lish the presence of an Apollo temple by explaining the name 
of the village of Casapulla as derived from that of the god, and 
affirmed that much of the material used in the church of S. El- 
pidio, which is located there, came from this shrine (5). As 
he had a theory that the villages around Capua were named 
in antiquity from the gods, he was ready to see the name of 
some divinity concealed in almost all the modern nomenclature, 
as for example that of the Muses in Musicile (6). C. Robert 
states that an Apollo temple stood in Capua, which was the 
work of Daedalus, but this is an error (7). The supposed 
allusion to the shrine occurs in a passage of Silius Italicus. But 
here it is stated clearly that Virrius, the Capuan leader fighting 
for the Carthaginians, was addressing his men in reference to 

(1) See pp. 324, 357; C. /. L. X, 8217. 

(2) A. Sambon 396 f . ; Nos. 1024, 1033, 1047, 1041, 1042. Head 34-35. 

(3) Pratilli Delia Via Appia 290. 

(4) See p. 365. 

(5) Corcia, Storia delle due Sidilie II, 70-71. 

(6) Corcia II, 26. 

(7) C. Robert, Daidalos, P.W. IV, 2005, « Einen von ihm in Cumae 
erbauten Apollotempel erwahnt Verg. A en. VI, 14, einen gleichen in Capua 
Sil. Ital. XII, 102 ». 

- 355 - 



Cumae, whose wall they saw before them, and his words allude 
to the Apollo temple of that town. In fact this account is a close 
imitation of Vergil's and refers to the same shrine (1). 

Mourlot has declared that the celebrated actor of panto- 
mimes L. Aurelius Pylades, who is mentioned at Puteoli as a 
sacerdos synodi, held the position of archiereus synodi at Prae- 
neste and also served as a priest of Apollo at Capua (2). But 
this statement is quite inaccurate, due to the confusion of 
Pylades with two other prominent actors, - M. Aurelius Agilius, 
who is cited at Praeneste as a holder of the office of archiereus 
and M. Aurelius Apolaustus, sometimes called Memphis, who 
is called a priest of Apollo in inscriptions coming from Liternum 
and Tibur. The latter was an Augustalis with special distinction 
at Capua, but the priesthood of Apollo in both instances was 
doubtless that of the actor's league with headquarters at 
Rome (3). There is therefore no real evidence for priest jor 
temple of Apollo at Capua. 

Not much evidence is at hand for the cult of Mercury. 
He does not appear upon any of the autonomous money of the 
city but only upon certain Romano-Campanian issues. An 
inscription the reading of which is doubtful was supplemented 
tentatively by Mommsen as an allusion to this god, but the 
reading is quite uncertain (4). A resident of Capua M. Cam- 
panius Marcellus, who held the position of Imperial represen- 
tative in the East, is described as a procurator ad Mercurium 
Alexandr (inum), but the nature of the post is unknown (5). 
Pratilli does not fail in this case to find the remains of a temple, 

(!) Sil. XII, 83 f. The passage is correctly interpreted by Heyne 
Virgil, II excursus II, p. 789. 

(2) Mourlot, Essai sur I'hist. de VAugustalitS 62, « Un fameux pan- 
tomine de 1'epoque de Septime-Severe, raffranchi imperiale Pylade, est lion 
seulement servir Augustalis mais archiereus synodi a Praeneste, sacerdos sy- 
nodi a Puteoli (iV. 5. 1888, 237), sacerdos Apollinis a Capua (C. /. L. X, 3716). 

(3) C. /. L. XIV, 2977=D. 5194; C. /. L. XIV, 4254=D. 5191 ; C. I. L. 
X, 3716 = D. 5189; E. E. VIII, 369 = D. 5186. See Friedlander, Darstellungen 
aus der Sittengeschichte Roms (8) II, 634 f. 

(4) C. /. L. X, 3822: Ser. 3uettius Ser. 1. Gimber u. s. m. 1. M(er- 
curio?) s(acrum). Cp. X, 3773. 

(5) C.,-7. L. X, 3847 =D. 1398 = Vaglieri 1553. Cp. Steuding, Mercurius, 
Roscher II, 2815. 

- 356 - 



which he claims existed in the village of S. Erasmo. But the 
inscription which he .cities as a proof of this shrine is spu- 
rious (1). 

Neptune with the character of the Gyeek Poseidon is men- 
tioned upon a cippus which records that a vow made in the 
waters of Sicily has been paid (2). Pratilli wished to locate 
a temple in a spot outside the city in the direction of the sea, 
which he says was called la fossa di Nettuno in a document of 
the year 1269, belonging to the cloister church S. Giovanni 
delle Monache (3). But the dedication just cited probably be- 
longed to some traveler grateful for an escape from shipwreck, 
and was not set up in a temple of this god. It is doubtful wheth- 
er he had a shrine in the interior of Campania. 

In an enumeration of portents made by Cicero, the date of 
which is uncertain, the image of Victoria at Capua is said to 
have been found covered with perspiration like Apollo's statue 
at Cumae (4). This image may have been placed in the temple 
of another god especially in that of Jupiter with whom the god- 
dess was intimately associated at Rome. Traces of such an 
association are also found at Capua, for certain coins which 
exhibit him upon the obverse show her upon the reverse in the 
act of crowning a trophy (5). It is not improbable, however, 
that she had a temple of her own. Although little is known of 
her cult in Campania, she probably represents a native deity 
who has been considerably modified as a result of assimilation 
to the Greek Nice (6). 

Silvanus is honored in a dedication discovered near S. An- 
gelo in Formis. It was made by Vrsulus, a steward attached 
to the temple of Diana, and by eight slaves called candidati, 



(1) Pratilli, Delia Via Appia 289; C. /. L. X, 456* Cp. Raoul-Rochette, 
Jour, des savants 1853, 288. 

(2) C. /. jL. X, 3813: Neptuno sacrum.... uotum in Siculo fretu sus- 
ceptum soluit. 

(3) Pratilli 289. 

(4) Cic. div. I, 98. See p. 52. 

(5) Wissowa 139; Graillot, Victoria, D.-S. V, 843, 833; Head 35; A. 
Samon 400, No. 1037. She is also associated on coins with Athena. Cp. 
No. 1033. 

(6) Cp. Graillot, D.-S. V, 836. 

- 357 - 



whose relation to. the cult of the god is unknown. The cause 
of their action was a dream or a sinister omen. Here contrary to 
the usual custom in expressing the name of this deity it is not 
preceded by the word dens (1). The place of the dedication, 
a locality which in early times at least was thickly wooded, 
accords with the original character of this deity who was vene- 
rated particularly in the forests. Moreover, the dedicators were 
of the same class socially as a large number of people who have 
left a record of their interest in him (2). The god was not 
worshipped in a temple, but as elsewhere received the sacrifices 
destined for him upon altars. 

In the same region of Mt. Tifata were discovered frag- 
ments of a roof -tile which preserve the name of the Mefites. 
An old Italian deity Mentis was worshipped elsewhere in the 
southern part of the peninsula especially at Potentia; she was 
the embodiment of the unwholesome vapor that issued from 
the earth in various places. Here the plural evidently alludes 
to several goddesses who ;were conceived as a kind of 
nymph (3). 

A local hero Telephus is probably represented on the third 
century Oscan coins. Upon the obverse of this money is por- 
trayed a head attired in the Phrygian style; upon the reverse 
is an infant suckled by a doe, - a subject based upon a legend 
connected with the life of Telephus (4). Avellino believed that 
the white doe trained by the hero Capys, which Silius describes, 
is a reminiscence of this myth (5). Telephus, the son of Her- 
cules and a king of Mysia, was the father of the Etruscan 
heroes Tyrrhenus and Tarchon, and therefore was held in 
esteem by that people. The reign of this hero in Italia is re- 

(1) C. /. L. X, 8217 = Vaglieri 1195: Siluano sacr. Vrsulus uil(icus) 
Dianae et candidati (followed by eight names) ex uiso. Kiibler, Candidatw, 
Ruggiero II 79; Vaglieri, Deus, Ruggiero II, 1718, 1721. 

(2) R. Peter, Silvanus, Roscher IV, 862, 863; von Domaszewsky, Sil- 
vanus auf lateinischen Inschriften in Abhandl. zur rom. Religion 58 f. = P/n- 
lologus LXI (1902) 1 f.; Hild, Silvanus, D.-S. IV, 1343. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 3811 and addenda part. 2, p. 976; Mefitu sacra. Cp. 
Peter, Mefitis, Roscher, II, 2520; Minervini, Atti Terra di Lavoro 1883 65. 

(4) A. Sambon 403, No. 1046; Poole 83, No. 14; Minervini, Ann. Inst. 
XXIII (1851) 40. 

(5) Avellino, Bull Nap. I (1845) 12. Cp. Novi, Iscrizioni etc. 14; Raoul- 
Rochette, Jour, des savants 1853, 687-88. 

- 358 - 



f erred to by the Byzantine historian Cedrenus (1). It has been 
conjectured that the legend about him was introduced into 
Campania by the early Greek settlers and afterward from this 
source reached Etruria (2). But its presence here is more 
likely a later development due to the Etruscan domination in 
Campania, a fact to which it itself bears witness (3). 

The head on the obverse has been considered sometimes 
as that of a male and sometimes as that of a female, and hence 
has been variously explained. Minervini recognized the hero's 
mother Auge; Head, influenced by the likeness of this figure 
to that upon the Romano-Campanian coins of this period, con- 
siders that it is intended to represent the personification Roma, 
who became in fact associated with Telephus in myth and was 
regarded as his daughter (4). Most numismatists, however 
have identified the head as that of Telephus himself (5). 

There was also a legend presumably of later origin, that 
the city was founded by an eponymous hero Capys, who natu- 
rally claimed the honors due to one in his position. At the 
time of Julius Caesar, when certain Roman colonists lured by 
the discovery of antiquities had turned archeologists, an ancient 
grave, which people said belonged to Capys, yielded a bronze 
tablet inscribed in Greek letters which purported to contain 
words referring to him (6). As Capys was held to be a relative 
of Aeneas the presence of Aeneas legends is indicated for 
this territory (7). 

(1) Cedrenus in Corpus scriptorum historiae Byzantinae I, 245. 

(2) Klausen, Aenas und die Penaten II, 1222; Thramer, Pergamos 
394 (2); Gruppe 629(4). 

(3) Pais, Storia critica di Roma I, 234. 

(4) Minervini, Bull. Nap. n. s. VII (1859) 170; Head 35. Cp. Richter. 
Roma, Roscher IV, 150; Plut. Rom. 2. 

(5) Avellino Ball. Nap. I (1845) 11; Cavedoni, Bull Nap. I (1845) 72 
and Bull Inst. 1853, 124; A. Sambon 392; Gamicci 88, No. 31. 

(6) Suet, lul 81 : Paucos iante menses, cum in colonia Capua deducti 
lege Iulia coloni ad exstruendas uilias uetustissima sepulchra disicerent idque 
eo studiosius facerent, quod aiiquantum uascolorum opens antiqui scrutantea 
reperiebant, tabula aenea in monimento, in quo dicebatur Capys conditor 
Capuae sepultus, inuenta est conscripta litteris uerbisque Graecis hac sententia 
efc. Pais, Stor. crit. I, 234 (2); Beloch 298. 

(7) Serv. Aen. X, 145:=Caelius Antipater Fr. 52 (Peter); Werner, 
Aineias, Roscher I, 174; De Sanctis, Storia dei Romani I, 252; Drexler, Kapis 
3), P.-W. II, 957. 

. 359 - 



Another coin of the same period bears the likeness of a 
young Faun or the god* Pan, who is portrayed with a shepherd's 
crook upon his shoulder. A. Sambon sugests that he was a 
local divinity of Mt. Tifata (1). Like the Sarnus and the 
Sebethus in other parts of Campania, the Volturnus here was 
considered as the abode of a river god, who received his due 
honors (2). The only direct reference to any sacred obser- 
vances still extant occurs in the fourth -century A. D, Campa- 
nian calendar treated in the first chapter (3); but while the 
place retained its sacred character, the old ceremonies connected 
with it had doubtless long since ceased or at least had lost 
their earlier significance. As stated in the first chapter the 
Roman cult of Volturnus can not be regarded as an importation 
from this source (4). 

To Nemesis with associated divinities (aovvaoiat Osoiaiv) 
a certain Arrian erected an altar according to the text of two 
elegiac lines in Greek; below a second record in Latin verses 
shows that the companion goddesses to whom reference is 
made in the Greek are [fustitia and the Fata (5). Although 
Ihm included this inscription among his Denkmaler for the study 
of the Celtic Matres, he rightly affirms that the Fata mentioned 
here have no relation with them (6). Pratilli claimed that 
these divinities had a temple, and the same assumption is made 
by Conway, who cities them as an example for the housing of 
several deities together at Capua (7). But the inscription is 

(1) Gaxrucci 89; A. Sambon 402, No. 1043 Cp. 393. 

(2) Preller-Jordan II 142; Pais op. cit. I, 234 (1). 

(3) The inscription cited by earlier, uncritical writers is now considered 
spurious. C. /. L. X, 460*; Corcia, Storia delle due Sicilie II, 90. 

(4) See p. 42. 

(5) C. /. L. X, 3812 = D. 3737=Vaglieri 1 168; 

AsaTCotvTQ Nspiaet xai aovvotoiai Geotatv 
'Appiavds (3a)ji,dv tov§s xaGsiSpuaato. 
Iustitiae Nemesi Fatis quam uouerat aram 

numina ,sancta colens, Cammariufc poauit. Cp. Otto, Fatum, 
P.-W. VI, 2050. 

(6) Ihm, Die Mutter oder Matronenkultus und seine Denkmaler in 
Jahrbucher des Vereins von Alterthumsf. im Rheinlande LXXXI (1886) 100, 
177. 

(7) Pratilli, Delia Via Appia 291; Conway, The Italic Dialects I, 109. 

- 360 - 



probably only an example of a sporadic dedication, and does 
not make it necessary to suppose that there was a temple dedi- 
cated to the Fates with Justitia and Nemesis. A mutilated in- 
scription, the text of which is uncertain, begins with a dedica- 
tion to a Deus Scholar (ius ?) about whom nothing is known. 
Mommsen at first associated him with the Mithras worship, 
but rightly gave up this view as dependent on an incorrect 
reading (1). A remarkable epitaph marking the tomb of C. Lae- 
torius Rufus has substituted Pluto for the Dii Manes, a substi- 
tution which according to Mommsen is unique (2). The Janus or 
two faced Hermes type which is found upon coins was a com- 
mon design among the Greek cities in Sicily and elsewhere, 
but at Capua is more likely the result of Roman influence. In 
any case it does not indicate a cult of Janus (3). 

ROMAN CULTS. 

There is a singular lack of evidence for the official priests 
of the Roman colony. The name of no pontiff is known and 
that of only one augur P. Aelius Philologus has been preserved. 
This man was a personage of local importance and served as 
decurion (4). The number of augurs and pontiffs holding 
office here is unknown, but it was perhaps the same as that 
proposed for the colony which the tribune Q. Seruilius Rullus 
tried unsuccessfully to establish in 63 B. C. In the bill brought 
forward at that time six pontiffs and ten augurs were includ- 
ed (5). Public officials devoted to individual deities were also 

(1) C. /. L. X, 3793=Vaglieri 1050. Steuding, Deus Scholarius (?) Ro- 
seher I, 998. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 3815 = D. 8001=Vaglieri 2358: Plutoni sacrum. C. Lae- 
tori Rufi h(ic) s(ita) s(unt). Tulli et mater feceru(nt). C. Laetori C. f. Rufi. 

(3) Head 34; A. Sambon 395 f . ; Roscher, /anus, Roscher II, 51. Cp. 
Friedenburg, Die Miinze in der Kulturgeschichte 70. 

(4) C. /. L. X 3904-Vaglieri 2078 = D. 6311: P. Aelio P. fil. Philologo 
aug(uri), decurioni Capuae, ornato sententia Iluirale Aelia Aphrodisia mater 
et sibi fecit. Vaglier' supplements the abbreviation aug. to read Augusialis 
but a decurion would scarcely have held that office. 

Cp. Mommsen, C. /. L. X, p. 369a. 

(5) Cic. leg. agr. II, 96: Hue isti X viri cum ID ") colonorum ex lege 
Rulli deduxerint, C decuriones, X augures, VI pontifices constituerint, quos 

- 361 - 



found here, as for example the priestess devoted to the Numen 
of the city (1). 

The establishment cf the Roman colony did not put an 
end at once to the activity of the magistri who had the oversight 
of shrines in the different pagi (2). Yet it seems to have 
affected that institution considerably in the course of time. As 
these boards declined in importance, and the new offices cre- 
ated by the establishment of the colony opened up fresh fields 
for the exercise of ambition among those who wished to 
display their talents for administration, it is probable that posi- 
tions in the service of the pagus were no longer attractive and 
were kept filled with difficulty. Thus an inscription dated 15 
A. D-, which refers to magistri in the service of ijupiter Liber 
or Liber (tas) contains only six names, and bears witness to a 
decline in this department of civic activity (3). At this time 
the officials were still expected to provide money for the cult 
or for the amusement of their fellow citizens as in the old days. 
Another inscription, which contains six names and alludes to 
the dedication of a shrine, doubtless records the work of magistri, 
but this fact is not explicitly stated (4). 

THE CAPITOLINE TRIAD. 

The existence of a Capitol and consequently the worship 
of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, Juno and Minerva are unusually 
well authenticated at Capua. In his account of the plans of 
Tiberius for taking a definite leave of Rome and withdrawing 
into seclusion, Tacitus says that the Emperor alleged as a reason 
for his departure his intention to dedicate two temples in Cam- 
pania, one of which in honor of Jupiter was situated at Capua 

illorum animos, quos impetus, quam ferociam fore putatis? Cp. the lex Colo- 
niae Genituae (C. /. L. II, supp. 5439 c. 67) which calls for a minimum of 
three pontiffs and three augurs for the exercise of cooptatio. 
(I) See p. 369. 
(2) The term pagus itself does not appear in Italy after the passage 
of the lex Mia tnunicipalis (45 B. C). Marquardt, Rom. Staatsverw. I (2), 6. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 3786 = Vaglieri 2103: Druso Caesare C Norb. cos. loui 
Liber (six names of magistri) mag. d. s. p. Mommsen, C. /. L. X, p. 367b. 

(4) C. /. L. X, 3787. 

- 362 - 



(26 A.D.) (1). Suetonius, evidently following the same source, 
refers to the same two sacred edifices but calls the one at Capua 
a Capitolium (2). The latter in giving a list of ominous occur- 
rences during Caligula's reign also states that the Capitolium 
of Capua was struck by lightning (3). It was probably at once 
repaired or rebuilt, if totally destroyed, but references in works 
written at a later date are not wholly conclusive. When Silius 
Italicus was giving an account of Hannibal's reception into the 
city, he represented the Carthaginian leader as noting its chief 
points ot interest, among which was the lofty Capitol (4). 
Here the writer probably had in mind a temple visible in his 
own day, which he arbitrarily placed in the distant past. But 
he may not have spoken of any building that actually existed, 
and may simply have assigned a Capitolium to Capua to cor- 
respond to the one in Rome. Likewise a passage in the late 
Acta Sanctorum assumes that the temple was in use during 
the time of the persecution of the Christians under Diocletian, 
and asserts that it was again destroyed by a bolt of lightning (5). 
There is no improbability in the continued use of the Capitol 
at a late date, but the Acta by themselves furnish no trust- 
worthy evidence for such an assumption. The remark about 
the lightning seems in fact to be a direct borrowing from Sue- 
tonius and the assertion about the end of the persecution is 
false (6). 

(1) Tac. ann. IV, 57: Inter quae diu meditato prolatoque saepius con- 
silio tandem Caesar in Campaniam abscessit, specie dedicandi templa apud 
Capuam Ioui, apud Nolam Augusto, sed certus procul urbe degere. 

(2) Suet. Tib. 40: Peragrata Campania, cum Capuae Capitolium, Nolae 
templum Augusti, quam causam profectionis praetenderat, dedicasset, Ca- 
preas se contulit. 

(3) Suet. Calig. 57: Capitolium Capuae Id. Mart, de caelo tactum est, 
item Romae cella Palatini atriensis. 

(4) Sil. XI, 265: Monstrant Capitolia celsa. 
Stellatisque docent campos Cereremque benignam. 

(5) Acta Rufi et Carponi in Acta sanctorum, r Aug. VI, p. 19: Quae 
acta sunt temporibus Diocletiani imperatoris et Maximiniani Caesaris et Cas- 
selliani proconsulis, qui in Capitolio deseruiebat diis sordidissimis. Quod Ca- 
pitolium ciuitate Capua orationibus sanctorum Rufi et Carponi Christus fulmine 
suo interemit et ultra non surrexit persecutio paganorum. 

(6) Kuhfeldt, De Capitoliis imperii Romani 11, 15, This opinion is 
attacked by Allard, Les Capitoles provinciaux et les actes des martyrs in La 
science catholique I (1887) 372. 

- 363 - 



The two main problems connected with this Capitol are 
its site and the date of its erection. Beloch, reasoning chiefly 
from the use of the preposition apud in the account of Tacitus 
and the adjective celsa in the poem of Silius, identified the 
Capitolium with the shrine of Jupiter Tifatinus (1). This 
view would explain the allusion to its height, as the city itself 
was practically level, and would harmonize with the principle 
that it should occupy an elevated station. But Beloch himself 
afterwards rightly rejected this theory, because it contradicts 
the fundamental assumption that a Capitol must stand within 
the walls and form the center of the community from a political 
and a religious point of view (2). For as indicated in an earlier 
chapter it became the outward manifestation and public expres- 
sion of loyalty toward Rome (3). 

Kuhfeldt, who had vehemently attacked the opinion of 
Beloch, refused to accept the evidence of Silius for a high 
Capitolium on the ground that the reference of this poet was 
merely an imitation of Vergil (4). But while Silius was doubt- 
less writing loosely and inaccurately, it is not correct to assume 
that he was imitating Vergil, since the similarity of the two 
poets in this case is confined to the two words celsa Capitolia, 
where this adjective is the natural and appropriate epithet for 
any one to use under the influence of Roman ideas. The Roman 
Capitol in fact is habitually portrayed under the aspect of a 
central citadel, and the provincial imitations, true to the con- 
ception inspired by their original, must have had attached to 
them in fancy, if not in reality, something of the various quali- 
ties belonging to it. Then too in his enumeration of the various 
features of the city Silius would naturally mention an acropolis 
and call it a Capitoliixm after the Roman fashion, though this 
edifice had not yet been erected in the epoch of Hannibal. At 
no time can we think of a really lofty situation, for this did not 
exist within the city. Yet the building was perhaps raised upon 

(1) Beloch 360. 

(2) Beloch 471; Kuhfeldt, op. cit. 16; Castan, Les Capitoles provinciaux 
65; Aust, Juppiter, Roscher II, 739. 

(3) See p. 246. 

(4) Kuhfeldt, 16; Castan 93. Verg. Aen. VIII, 663: Stabat pro templo 
et Capitolia celsa tenebat. 

- 364 - 



an artificial mound or at least reared upon substructures to make 
it more imposing, - a condition of affairs which seems to have 
prevailed quite generally as revealed by examples at Florentia, 
Ostia, and Vesontio (Besangon) in Gaul (1). 

While there was certainly a Capitol somewhere within the 
city limits, its precise situation can not be determined. The 
older antiquarians beginning with Cesare Costa and including 
Michele Monaco and Pratilli, located it near the theater and the 
thermae (cryptoporticus) in a spot named la torre di S. Erasmo. 
The latter claimed that an inscription reading Dianae Capito- 
linae had been found here ; he also asserted that he had found 
in mediaeval documents the phrases prope turrim Capitolii and 
prope ecclesiam S. Erasmi in Capitolio, and that he himself 
saw a large number of pillars and marble fragments from the 
ancient building (2). Mazzocchi however, profesesd to see 
no special reason for believing that the Capitol stood here, and 
the evidence of Pratilli is rightly suspected (3). 

A marble relief discovered on this site in the seventeenth 
century has sometimes been used to establish the location of the 
Capitol. Although the divinities here portrayed are identified 
as Jupiter, Diana, and Minerva and not the regular Capitoline 
triad, it has been supposed that at Capua Juno was replaced by 
Diana, the predominant goddess of this region in early times r 
and that this unusual triad was revered in the Capitol (4). 
But, although another divinity might sometimes be associated 
with the three who are known as the Capitoline gods, there is 
no likelihood that any one of these was deposed from his 



(1) Castan, op. cit. 65; H. Leclercq, Capitoles in Dictionnaire d'arche- 
ologie chretienne II, 2043; Saglio, Capitoliutn, D.-S. I, 906; Allard, op. cit. 
359. The existence of a Capitol at Vesontio is doubted by Toutain, Etude sur 
les Capitoles provinciaux de Vempire romain in Rapports annuels de Vecole 
pratique des hautes etudes 1899, 3. 

(2) Pratilli, Delia Via Appia 228, 278, 287; Kuhfeldt 17; Leclercq 2047; 
Beloch 343; Raoul-Rochette, Jour, des savants 1853, 280; Castan 93; Allard 
372. 

(3) Mazzocchi, In mutilum Campani amphitheatri titulum 258. 

(4) Raoul-Rochette, loc. cit. ; Sogliano, Spigolature epigrajiche in l Atti 
Nap. XV (1890) 159. The relief is reproduced in Winckelmann-Fea, Storia delle 
arti III, PL 13; Millin, Galerie mythologique I, XXXVIII No. 139. 

- 365 - 



rightful place (1). In this cult thm exact imitation of the Roman 
model was emphasized, and there was no place for important 
deviations from the norm which had become established. Again 
the triad seems to have been introduced here at a comparatively 
late date not only after its form had become thoroughly fixed 
but also after Diana's importance had become somewhat 
obscured by the new divinities of the Empire (2). 

It is better to consider this group as a votive offering made 
to the three deities in consequence of a dream. Besides the 
gods, two men are depicted as employed in manual labor and 
a third is wielding a chisel. Likewise a Genius offering libation 
at an altar and behind him a huge serpent appear; above the 
latter are the words Genius theatri (3). As the dedicator was a 
contractor and builder employed on the theater, the divinities 
honored were doubtless those from whom he expected protec- 
tion in his work (4). Consequently we can not use this relief- 
as a proof for the presence of a Capitol in the locality where 
it was found. 

Although the Roman historians state clearly that the Capitol 
was dedicated by Tiberius in the year 26 A. D., there still 
remains the possibility that this was not a dedication of the 
first temple but merely marked a restoration. The date of the 
original structure has been much disputed. Raoul-Rochette 
believed that it went back to the era of Etruscan supremacy and 



(1) Kuhfeldt cites the Colonia Julia (jenetiua as an example of the 
association of Venus with the regular triad, but there is no evidence for any 
permanent connection or association of cults. C. /. L. II, Supp. p. 855, LXXI ; 
Kuhfeldt, De Capitoliis imperii Romani 18 (40); Saglio, D.-S. I, 906. 

(2) Kuhfeldt 18. 

(3) The Genius has been identified as a Fortuna by Jahn, Darstel- 
lungen anti\er Reliefs Welche sich auf Handwerk tind Handelsverkehr beziehen 
in Berichte der sacks. Gesellschaft XIII (1861) 30364, but it has the common 
form, of the Genius found in domestic shrines. Jordan, De Lamm imaginibus 
ei cultu in Ann. Inst. XXXIV (1862) 333; Wissowa 180. 

(4) C. /. L. X, 3821 == Vaglieri 1080 = D. 3662: Genius [the] atri. Lucceius 
Peculiaris, redemptor proscaeni ex biso (sic) fecit. According to Castan Jupiter 
was propitiated to restrain his destructive thunderbolts, Minerva, as a patro- 
ness of the artistic efforts involved in the construction of the theater, and 
Diana, as a protectress of the wood used in the work. Castan, Les 'Capitoles 
provinciaux 95. 

- 366 - 



was thus independent of any Roman influence (1). It is pos- 
sible that the Campanians derived the idea of the Capitoline 
triad from them, but evidence for such temples in this district 
or elsewhere is lacking* Beloch's assignment of the Capitol to 
the pre-Roman period was based upon the testimony of Silius 
Italicus discussed above, but absolute accuracy in historical 
matters can not be expected from that poet (2). On the other 
hand it is not possible to accept unreservedly the opinion of 
Castan that the building of a Capitol was conditioned by the 
presence of a colony (3). Hence it is impossible to deny that 
Kuhfeldt may have been right in assigning it to the period of 
Roman occupation preferably after the general granting of citi- 
zenship at the time of the Social War (4). Yet the institution 
of the Capitoline worship was above all else the manifestation 
of loyalty to Rome and a desire to copy after it as far as local 
circumstances permitted. At Capua, however, there was present 
the inclination to be a rival of Rome rather than a docile imita- 
tor, and this feeling seems to have lingered all through the 
pre-colonial period. According to Cicero the city's pride had 
begun immediately to affect the first colonists, who were setting 
themselves up as the equals of Rome (5). Although the orator 
accused them of introducing customs and a system of nomen- 
clature belonging properly only to Rome, he made no mention 
of an attempt on their part to bring in the Capitoline cult, - a 
detail which he would scarcely have passed unnoticed, 
if it had been possible to include it. The colonists here were 
imitators in a certain sense, but were moved by an attitude of 
rivalry far different from the spirit of loyalty which prompted 
the erection of Capitolia (6). 



(1) Raoul-Rochette, op. cit 280. See p. 246 (2). 

(2) Beloch 361. 

(3) Castan believed that a Capitol was granted only to Roman colonies 
as a special privilege before the extension of citizenship under Caracalla. 
Castan 41 f . ; L. Friedlander, Sittengeschichte Roms (6) III, 198; Allard, La 
science caiholique I (1887) 359. Cp. Gell. XVI, 13; Cic. leg. agr. II, 73; Toutain, 
op. cit. 26f. 

(4) Kuhfeldt 15, 78; Aust, Iuppiter, Roscher, II, 739, 

(5) Cic. leg. agr. II, 92-94. 

(6) Saglio, D.-S. I, 906; Castan, Les Capitoles provinciaux 66f, 

- 367 - 



After the colonization of Julius Caesar (58 B. C.) one can 
expect to find a Capitol in this place, but no evidence for it 
appears earlier than the notices of 26 A. D. discussed above. 
There is no reason to suppose that Tiberius acted as patron of 
the temple in the sense of furnishing the means for its erection, 
but he was present at the dedication ceremony in his capacity 
of high priest of the formal religion of the Roman state (I). 
As he refused divine honors for himself and discouraged the 
further spread of the cult of Diuus Augustus, it is possible that 
he encouraged the building of Capitolia, - the one remaining 
means of showing attachment toward the central govern- 
ment (2). Yet the dedication at Capua is the only extant 
example of his interest in the cult of Jupiter (3). In short it 
is not necessary to suppose with Kuhfeldt that Tiberius was 
present at a restoration (4). 

No inscriptions allude to the Capitoline triad, but two 
make mention of its most potent member, Jupiter Optimus 
Maximus. One is a dedication made by a seaman P. Rammius 
Chrestus and is dated 12 B. C. (5). If the date assumed above 
for the foundation of the Capitolium is correct, this record an- 
tedates it by a considerable period. It should be regarded, there- 
fore, as a sporadic inscription and not as evidence for a reg- 
ular cult. The second reference to the god belongs to the era 
of the Empire; addressing him as summus excellentissimus, it 
records the grateful piety of Marcius Probus, an eminent 
Roman, who held the important office of praefectus alimentorum. 
He had escaped danger and recovered his health in this locality, 
and felt grateful toward the deity to whom he ascribed his good 
fortune (6). 

(1) Castan, Le Capitole de Vesontio et les Capitoles provinciaux da 
monde romain 65, 76 and Les Capitoles provinciaux 42, 45. Cp. Suet, Tib. 47. 

(2) Suet. Tib. 26; Tac. ann. IV, 37-38; Castan, Les Capitoles provin- 
ciaux 70. The- opinion of Castan (op. cit. 68) that the building of Capitols was 
in general a late form of showing loyalty to Rome is erroneous. See p. 33f. 

(3) Aust. lupiter, Roscher II, 748. 

(4) Kuhfeldt, op. cit. 15. 

(5) C. /. L. X, 3804=Vaglieri 1!08 = D. 3004. 

(6) C. /. L. X, 3805 = Vaglieri 1112; I. O. M. summo excellentissimo 
IVlarcius Probus u. c. praef(ectus) alim(entorum), quod hoc in loco anceps 
periculum sustinuerit et bonam ualetudinem reciperauerit u. s. 

- 368 - 



GENIUS. 

Aside from the Genius theatri treated above there is no 
allusion to this kind of deity either as a god who watches over 
the individual or as one who presides over a place or the entire 
community. A divinity of the latter type, however, is con- 
cealed under the designation of Numen Capuae, who seems 
to have been the equivalent of the public Genii who have left 
traces of their presence at Stabiae, Nola and especially at 
Puteoli. The inscription recording the god is mutilated, but 
preserves enough of the original notice to show that he was 
served by a public priestess (1). This circumstance is odd, 
as the Genius of a community was ordinarily served by rnale 
priests. 

LARES. 

An inscription once interpreted by Minervini as a dedi- 
cation to Jupiter Larissaeus is in reality connected with the 
worship of IJupiter and the Lares (2). It contains the record 
of the building of a small shrine to these divinities by a freed- 
man L. Cocceius Papa, who had been manumitted apparently 
by three brothers of Cocceius Nerua, a friend of Horace and 
Maecenas and a companion of Tiberius on his journey to Cam- 
pania (3). Cavedoni believed that this man's cognomen Papa 
indicated that he was a Phrygian, but he was influenced by a 
belief that the shrine was in honor of a foreign deity (4). The 
date of the inscription is 13 B. C. 

In an excavation made by Novi in the neighborhood of 
the temple of Diana Tifatina was discovered a wall painting 
containing three figures. Two of them can be identified readily 

(1) C. /. L. X, 3920: ....aberi(ae C. f.) Tetti(aee) Prisc(ae s)acerd(oti) 

pub(Iicae N)uminis Cap(uae elect(ae) a spiend. ordine Cp. C. /. L. 

XIV, 373 from Ostia and II, 2126 from Spain. Herbst De Sacerdotiis Rom. 
manic. 14 reads sacerdos publici Numinis. 

(2) Paus. II, 24-3; Minervini, Bull Nap. n. «. V (1856) 98. Cp. VI, 16. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 3803=Vaglieri 1125: .... L. Cocceius C. I. M. I. Papa 
aedic(ulam) Ioui Lar(ibtis) ex d. d. Cavedoni, Butl. Nap. n. s. VI (1857) 47; 
Hot. sat. I, 5, 27; Tac. ann. IV, 58; VI, 26. 

(4) Cavedoni loc. cit* 

- 369 - 

24 



as the Lares, while the third, who stands between them with 
a patera and horn of plenity, is either Fortuna or Vesta (1). 
The inscription belonging to the beginning of the first century 
B. C. which deals with the works of a board of ministri has 
already been treated (2). 

THE IMPERIAL CULT. 

ihe worship of the Emperor and family was carried on 
under the direction of Augustales, a large number of whom 
are known (3). They are mentioned chiefly in epitaphs which 
prove that their official title was Augustales Capuae; out of a 
group of thirteen inscriptions in fact only two omit the name of 
the city (4). One inscription reported to have come from this 
town contains the name of a seuir Augustalis, but this position 
hardly existed here, and more probably the record belongs to 
the town of Cales (5). The members of the organization were 
probably without exception freedmen; although this fact is 
stated definitely in only three instances, the absence of any 
indication of filiation proves that the other incumbents of the 
office should be assigned to the same class (6). 

One of the members was the well known actor L. Aurelius 
Apolaustus, a freedman of Marcus Aurelius and Verus, who 
is mentioned in connection with other Campanian towns. He is 
called an Augustalis maximus, a position which was equivalent 
to the quinquennalis cited from other places (7). In the case 
of Apolaustus, however, the post must have been a purely 
honorary one. Another Augustalis was employed as an overseer 
of building operations and a third was a manufacturer and 



(1) Minervini, Bvlll Nap. n, s. VII (1858) 172. 

(2) See p. 354f. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 3943; 3716; 8221. 

(4) C. /. L. X. 3947 = Vaglieri 2084; X, 8221, Mommscn, C. /. L. 
X, p, 369 a. 

(5) C. /. L. X, 3919. 

(6) C. 7. L. X,3943, 3947, 8221. 

(7) C. /. L, X, 3716^D. 5189. von Premerstein. Augustales, Ruggiero I, 
849. See p. 356. 

- 370 ,- 



dealer in lime (!). The occupations of the rest are unknown. 
In accordance with the universal custom in the provincial towns 
they were required to make a payment to the municipality in 
return for the office which they held, but this was sometimes 
remitted on account of important services as in the case of the 
builder Ianuarius (2). One advantage of membership in the 
organization was the chance of sharing in bequests made by 
philanthropically inclined citizens (3). 

A collegium of iuuenes who were connected with the cult 
of Augustus and from him received the name iuuenes Aug 
(ustales) is mentioned in one inscription (4). Their patron 
Ti. Claudius Rufinus is cited as a quinquennalis, but hardly 
held the position in this organization, as assumed by Mommsen. 
One dedication honors the Numen of the Emperor, another 
his Victoria ; there is no clue to the name of the monarch whom 
the dedicators had in mind (5). Evidence for temples of the 
Diui is strangely lacking. 

ORIENTAL CULTS, EGYPTIAN GODS. 

Little evidence exists for the worship of the Egyptian gods 
but they doubtless were much patronized. In one dedication, 
made by a uir clarissimus Arrius Balbinus, the goddess Isis is 
eulogized as embracing all other divinities. This pantheistic 
conception of the deity was one that was very popular in the 
Roman world, and gods of all varieties easily merged in her 
personality (6). A marble statuette of a naked man accompa- 

(1) C. /. L. X, 3907=D. 6313=Vaglieri 2083. D.m.s. Q. Annio Ianuaxio 
exactori operum publ. et theatri a funclamentis. Huic ordo decurionum ob 
jnerita eius honorem Augustalitatis gratuitum decreuit etc. C. /. L. X, 3947 = 
D. 7537 == Vaglieri 2084 D.m.s. T. Flauius T. lib. Saiutaris Augustalis sibi et 
Titiriae Felicitati coniugi bene merenti, negotias {sic) calcariariua uiuus fecit. 

(2) Cp. the 'Augustales immunes at Misenum and Puteoli. Beurlier, 
Le culte imperial 211. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 3927. 

(4) C. /. L. X, 3909 = Vaglieri 2079. Cp. Mommsen C. /. L. X, p. 369*. 

(5) C. /. L. X, 38J6 = Vaglieri 1208: Victoiiae Caesaris Augusti impe- 
ratoris. C. /. L. X, 38H == Vaglieri 1171; A fragment. 

(6) C. /. L. X, 3800 = 0. 4362 = Vaglieri 1093. Te tibi una quae es 
omnia, dea Isis, Airius Balbinus u. c. Drexler, Isis, Roscher, II. 546 and 
Mythoflogische Beitriige I, 125 f ; Lafaye, his, D.-S. Ill, 381. 

- 371 - 



nied by figures of little children, a crocodile and a hippopota- 
mus, was found about J 900 near S. Angelo in Formis. It 
doubtless represent the river god Nilus (1). 

MAGNA MATER. 

Two inscriptions bear witness to the worship of Magna 
Mater, One is a dedication made by a priest belonging to the 
local shrine, the archigallus Virianus Ampliatus, who was 
evidently a slave (2). This official is found only in the more 
important cult centers such as Ostia, Lugdunum in Gaul, and 
Hierapolis in Phrygia, where he exercised important priestly 
and prophetic functions (3). It is probable that powers of 
the Capuan archigallus were limited to this city and the territory 
directly tributary to it; in other words he did not have any juris- 
diction over the priests of a lower order who lived in the smaller 
Campaniam towns (4). He held his position for life, doubtless 
receiving his authority from the Roman board of quindecem- 
uiri (5). Nothing is known of the date of Virianus Ampliatus, 
as public slaves held the position even after the cult had been 
reorganized at the end of the second or the beginning of the 
third century, and the priesthood thrown open to Roman citi- 
zens. Probably he belonged to this later era, when neither 
emasculation' nor celibacy was a ceremonial requirement (6). 
The inscription was accompanied by a relief, which Pratilli and 
Iannelli regarded as a likeness of the priest, but which Momm- 
sen identified as intended to represent the goddess her- 
self (7). Graillot believes that the archigallus was ordinarily 
a man of imposing presence and dignified demeanor who was 

(1) Gabriel, N. S. 1901, 560. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 3810=:VagIieri 1141: Virianus Ampliatus archigallus 
M(atris) d(eum). Von Domaszewski, Magna Mater in Latin Inscriptions in Jour. 
Rom. Stud. I (1911) 51. 

(3) A list of places where an archigallus was found is given by Graillot, 
Le culte de Cyb&le 234 (2) and de Ruggiero, Ruggiero I, 641-642. Cp. Graillot 
233 f. 

(4) Graillot 235. 

(5) Graillot, 236. 

(6) Graillot 231-232; Decharme, Cybele, D.-S. I, 1685. 

(7) Pratilli, Delia Via Appia 263; Iannelli, Atti Terra di Lavoro 1892, 
25; Mommsen, C. /. L. X, 3810; Graillot 565, correction to 536 (5). 

- 372 - 



well advanced in years and tended to command respect not only 
for his piety but also for his age, but the scattered literary refe- 
rences on this point are too few to make a conclusive generali- 
zation (1). Another inscription found in the Ager Campanus 
records a gift to the goddess by a freedman T. Flauius Onesi- 
mus (2). Both of the inscriptions from Capua, as is customary in 
southern Italy, address her simply as Mater deum without the 
additional epithet Idaea, a term which when used has been 
assumed to mark more completely the Romanization of the 
cult (3). Other evidence sometimes adduced for the presence 
of the cult at Capua is of doubtful authenticity (4). 

In the seventeenth century the site of her temple was com- 
monly supposed to lie between the ancient cities of Capua and 
Casilinum (the modern Capua) but nearer to the latter than to 
the former. The precise spot in which it was supposed to have 
stood is near the church and the hospital of S. Lazaro. Here 
walls and remains of columns came to light but the inscription 
which purported to refer to the Mater deum was spurious (5). 
In another locality near Mt. Tifata excavations revealed many 
statuettes of mediocre workmanship, which portrayed a beard- 
less youth wearing a short tunic and playing a flute with seven 
pipes. These would seem to represent Attis. As Magna Mater 
was frequently worshipped on mountain heights, her cult may 
have become asociated with Tifata (6). It probably did not 
oust that of Diana from its place of honorable preeminence in 
this locality, but rather merged with it in accordance with the 
syncretistic tendency prevalent in the later Empire. Probably 
she lived on terms of intimacy with Jupiter Tifatinus, as else- 
where her relations with Jupiter were cordial (7). There is no 



(1) Graillot 236. Cp. Ov. fast. IV, 337 f. ; Juv. VI, 512. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 3809: Matri deum T. Flauius Onesimus donum dedit. 
A list of freedmen named as dedicators in inscriptions is given by von Do- 
maszewski, op. cit. 52. 

(3) Graillot 434. 

(4) C. /. L. X, 455* ; Iannelli, op. cit. 22 i. 

(5) Pratilli, he. cit. ; Graillot 433 (6). 

(6) Graillot 433; Biardot, Les ierres-cuites grecquea junkbres 322 ; cp. 
Pechaxme, CybSle, D.-S. I, 1688. 

(7) C. I. L. X, 3764 from Suessuia; Graillot, he culte de Cyb&le 435. 

- 373 - 



reason for supposing with Graillot that Magna Mater worship 
was connected in any way with that of the ancient divinity of 
motherhood whose temple stood on the site known as the Fondo 
Patturelli (I). The former, however, may be looked upon as 
a successful rival of the older goddess, whose cult was already 
in a state of decline before the Oriental religions attained the 
acme of their popularity and influence. 

MITHRAS. 

No evidence remains for the worship of Mithras, as the 
reading of the inscription cited by Beloch to prove its existence 
is incorrect (2). Thus the Oriental religions have left remark- 
ably few traces of their presence in comparison with the size 
and importance of the city. Yet it is unsafe to affirm with Beloch 
that these cults were only of minor importance here (3) ; in fact 
the remains that might throw some light on the state of reli- 
gion in Capua are so comparatively scanty that little can be 
done to establish the degree of prominence attained by the 
various forms of worship. 

JUDAISM. 

An epitaph preserves the name of a leader of the Jewish 
community. This was Alfius Iuda, who was one of the archon~ 
tes, a group of officials who are often mentioned but whose 
duties are not clearly understood. He was furthermore the 
religious head of his people, a rabbi or, as he is called here, an 
archisynagogus (4). A second inscription, discovered at 
Jerusalem, names a Jewish matron from Capua (5). Other 
inscriptions do not certainly refer to this race (6). 

(1) Graillot 433. See p. 338 f. 

(2) Beloch 332-333. See p. 361. 

(3) Beloch loc. cit. 

(4) C. /. L. X, 3905;.... Alfius luda arcon arcosynagogus qui uixit 
etc. Juster, Les Juifs dans V empire romain I, 443 f., 450 (list of archisynagogi) 
Tamassia, Gli Ebrei nelV Italia meridionale in Atti del r. 1st. Veneto LXIII 
(1903-4) 806; Schiirer, Geschichte des judischen Volhes (4) II, 511, III, 68; 
Friedlander, Sittengeschichte (8) IV, 238. 

(5) Revue biblique intern. XI (1902) 106-107. 

(b) Juster, op. cit. I, 182 (5); Harnack, Die Mission u. Ausbr, d. Christ- 
entums II, 217. 

- 374 - 



CHRISTIANITY. 

The manner in which Christianity made its entrance into 
Capua is entirely unknown, but as usual attempts have been 
made to give the local church an apostolic foundation (I). 
It claimed a goodly number of martyrs, but even in the case 
of those whose authenticity is less questionable there is gener- 
ally a complete ignorance in regard to the circumstance and 
date pf their martyrdom. Lanzoni considers that nine of the 
alleged martyrs can be regarded as genuine (2). The most 
important saints to whom this glory has been attributed are 
called Priscus, Marcellus, Augustinus and Rufus. They are 
mentioned in the martyrology handed down under the name 
of Jerome and were among the figures portrayed is mosaics 
adorning the apse of the church of S. Prisco near the modern 
Capua, which have been dated in the fifth century (3). Priscus 
is included also in the spurious list of seventy disciples which 
circulated under the name of Hippolytus (4). An early Chris- 
tian cemetery was located in the vicinity of the church of S. 
Prisco, where have been found numerous epitaphs bearing 
dates of the fourth century (5). 

The earliest mention of a bishop who can be regarded as 
authentic occurs in a report of the church Council held at 
Rome in 313. The same bishop, who bore the name of Pro- 

(1) A highly imaginat've account of the beginnings of Christianity is 
found in the eighteenth century work of Rinaldo, Memorie istoriche delta 
fedelissima citta di Capua I, 286 f. 

(2) Lanzoni, Le origini del cristianesimo e delV episcopato nella Cam- 
pania romana in Riv. storico-crit. delle scienze teol. VI (1910) 29 f . ; 32; De- 
lehaye, Les origines du culte des martyrs 346. 

(3) Pseudo-Jerome, Martyrologium uetus (Migne, Patrol. Latina XXX, 
450 f.) where Priscus is named under date of Sept. I and Rufus under August 
24, 26. These mosaics were destroyed in 1766. Garrucci, Storia delta arte cri- 
stiana IV, P. 254; De Rossi, Bull, arch, crist 1883 Pis. Ii, III, and 1884, 
104-125; E. Miintz, Rev. arch. XVI (1891) 72 f . ; Leclercq, Capoue in Did. 
d'arch. chret. II, 2065 f. Delehaye, op. cit. 344; Bertaux.L'arf dans Yltalie me- 
ridionale 53. 

(4) Pseudo-Hippolytus, De LXX apostolis (Migne, Patrol, graeca X, 
956). 

(5) De Rossi, op, cit * 110 f. The Christian inscriptions from Capua are 
discussed by Leclercq, op. cit. 2077 f. ; C. /. L. X, 4487-4552. 

- 375 - 



terius, is included among the numbers of a second gathering of 
Church dignitaries held only a short time later at Aries (1). 
Constantine caused a basilica to be erected here, as is recorded 
in the Liber Pontificalis, and presented it with various sacred 
vessels of use in its services (2). 



(1) Optat. I, 22; Concilium episcoporum Arelatense ad Sihestrum 
papam in SyUoge Optatiana; Mansi, Amplissima collectio conciliorum II, 
437, 476; Harnack op. cit. 11, 217. Cp. Duchesne, he dossier du Donatisme 
in MSlanges X (1890) 590 f. 

(2) Liber Pontificalis, Silvester XXXI (Duchesne I, 185); Leclercq. op. 
cit 2064. 

- 376 - 



CHAPTER VIII, 
NOLA AND THE MINOR CAMPANIAN TOWNS, 



In the eastern portion of the great Campanian plain lay 
the territory subject to the city of Nola. This district, embracing 
a considerable area, was surrounded by the smaller holdings of 
a large number of the Campanian towns. On the south it was 
bounded by the possessions of Nuceria and Pompeii, whose 
northern limits formed a straight line eastward from Mt. Vesu- 
vius; on the southwest and west, by the territory of Hercula- 
neum, Neapolis and Acerrae; and on the north and northwest, 
by that of Suessula and Abella. Toward the east the jurisdiction 
of Nola was separated from the land of Abellinum by a rough 
and mountainous district. 

The ancient Nola, occupying the identical site of the 
modern town, was built along the Appian way, which here 
stretches from north to south. Although no great distance from 
the mountains on the east, it was built like Capua entirely 
upon the plain, and consequently was without natural means 
of defence. Unlike that city however, it appears not to have 
been laid out according to any regular plan. The fertility of the 
surrounding country, which Vergil praised as equal to the 
plain of Capua, and an extensive and lucrative cdmmerce 
brought wealth and luxury in the early centuries. Greek culture 
was welcomed with enthusiasm. During the Empire Nola obtain- 
ed some distinction by the fact that both Vergil and Augustus 
had estates here and especially by the circumstance that the 
latter here ended his life (I). 

(1) Beloch 399. 

- 377 - 



Nola is said to have been occupied originally by the mys- 
terious Ausonians. While there is little probability that a 
Chalcidian settlement was made here, as claimed by some 
Roman writers, there is good reason for thinking that this 
localty formed a part of the conquests of the Etruscans; But 
when Nola first appeared in history at the beginning of the 
fifth century B. C, it was under the sway of the Samnites, and 
joined in aiding the Campanian Greeks against the Romans. 
During this struggle it was taken by storm and henceforth be- 
came tributary to Rome. When Hannibal became master of 
Capua, a strong sentiment developed in his favor at Nola, but 
as a result of the efforts of the local senate the allegiance to 
Rome was maintained. In the Social War the city came under 
the power of the Samnites, and was only recaptured by Sulla 
at the close of a decade of efforts for its subjection (80 B. C). A 
few years later it was plundered by the hordes of Spartacus 
(73 B. C). 

As a result of these reverses, Nola became quite insignif- 
icant. It was colonized at different times, first probably by Sulla 
and afterwards by the Emperors. In the later Empire it again 
became a place of importance, sometimes the seat of the prov- 
incial governor and the residence of the noted bishop Pauli- 
nus. In 410 it once more suffered capture at the hands of 
Alaric (1). 

In comparison with the size and importance of Nola very 
meager evidence has been transmitted about its religious condi- 
tions. This condition is due chiefly to the lack of systematic 
excavation. The domain of Nola like that of Capua comprised 
various pagi the names of which have been in part preserved. 
Unlike those around Capua, however, they were not named 
from gods, and no information has been preserved relative to 
their religious exercises (2). 



(1) For the history of Nola see Mommsen, C. /. L. X, p. 142; Beloch 
389-392; A. Sambon I, 310 f . ; Mariotti, De urbis Nolae aniiquissima historia 
adnotatiunculae in Arch. stor. campano 1 (1889) 173 f . ; Nissen, It. Landesk, 
II, 755. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 1278-1280; JV. 5. 1900, 101; Stein Jahresber. uber die 
Forts, der class. Alterthumsw. CXL (1909) 243. 

- 378 - 



JUPITER. 

In regard to the cult of Jupiter the evidence is very un- 
satisfactory. That the god was recognized here is proved by 
the appearance of the name regio louia applied to one of the 
municipal divisions (I). But it is impossible to prove that the 
cult was old, since the name of the regio is preserved only in a 
late inscription. Furthermore the designation of the other district 
that has been preserved, the regio Romana points to the naming 
of the parts of the city with these designations at a compara- 
tively late date after Roman influence predominated. On the 
other hand a comparison with the other Campanian cities in- 
dicates the worship of an Oscan Jupiter in the early period, 
and it is practically certain that he was present at that time. 

According to the old antiquarian Leone a temple of Jupiter 
occupied the site of the Cathedral, and its pavement is to be 
found in the chapel of S. Felice. The evidence for the presence 
of the distinctly Roman cult of the Capitoline Jupiter will be 
treated in a later section (2). 

CERES, DIONYSUS, VENUS. 

Demeter, Cora, and Dionysus were probably worshipped 
here in the mysteries as elsewhere in southern Italy. But the 
so- called Nolan vases which often reproduce the figures of 
these deities, especially Dionysus, were probably an importa- 
tion rather than the product of local factories; hence they do 
not offer competent evidence for the cult of these gods (3). 
Dionysus is mentioned once ajt the very close of Paganism in 
the works of Paulinus of Nola, who attacks the non-Christian 



(1) C. /. L. X, 1255 = D. 6348: Clementiani. Pollio Iulio Clementiano u. p. 
patrono inimitabili, largissimo, cuius facta enarari (sic) non possunt. Eius 
meritis regio louia statuam censuit. 

(2) Leone, De Nola Chap. 8 ; Beloch 403 ; Remondini, Delia Nolana ec- 
clesiastica storia I, 80. Both Remondini and Leone located a temple of Jupiter 
Seruator on the site of S. Salvatore in the southeastern part of the city. 

(3) Lenormant, La Grande-Grece I, 407; Walters, Hist. Anc. Pottery I, 
82; Patroni, La ceramica antica neW Italia meridionale in Atti Nap. XIX (1897-8) 
part 2, 33. 

- 379 - 



denunciation Dionysus is assailed along with Venus. The tone 
beliefs and practices of his fellow citizens (I). In the Bishop's 
of the passage, however, shows that the vices and debauchery 
with which these divinities were particularly associated rather 
than their specific cults formed the object of his condemnation, 
and that his chief warfare was directed against vice and intem- 
perance. It does not indicate any noteworthy cult of Venus and 
Bacchus. Much less can one say with the old writer Gorio that 
the former was worshipped zealously as Venus Augusta (2). 

APOLLO AND ATHENA. 

The head of Athena wearing an Athenian type of helmet 
appears upon many coins of Nola belonging to the fourth 
century B. C, while Apollo is found upon issues of both silver 
and bronze, which were minted in the third century (about 270 
B. C. and later) under Roman domination (3). This money, 
however, which exhibits on one side the man-headed bull, is 
regarded by numismatists as an imitation of the coinage of 
Neapolis, and so offers little evidence for the worship of these 
divinities. Remondini erroneously considered that there was 
evidence for a temple of Apollo (4). 

MINOR DEITIES. 

Under this head may be grouped the divinities, who were 
perhaps important in the life of the community, yet have left 
almost no traces of their influence. Diana's worship is proved 
by one mutilated inscription recording a dedication made by a 

(!) Paulinus of Nola, carmen XIX, 169 f . : 

Sic itaque et nostra haec Christi miserantis amore 

Felicis meruit muniri Nola sepulchro 

in qua 

prostibulum Veneris simui et dementia Bacchi 
numina erant miseris, foedoque nefaria ritu 
sacra celebrabat sociata libido furori 

(2) Gorio, quoted by Remondini, op. cit. 1, 93. The inscription that was 
formerly adduced as proof for the cult of Ceres and even for a temple has 
been pronounced a forgery. C. /. L. X, 175*. Remondini, op. cit. I, 81. 

(3) A. Sambon 317-19, 385-6; Head 40-1 ; Garrucci 92, PI. 89. 

(4) Remondini, 1, 89. 

- 380 - 



certain D. Granius at the bidding of the goddess (1). She was 
probably adored at a local shrine. A magister Mercurialis is 
recorded in the person of L. Sattius Phileros, a freedman be- 
longing to the age of Augustus; for an early cult of Mercury 
no evidence is at hand (2). Remondini, using the uncritical 
methods of his age, claimed the existence of a temple of Mer- 
cury, and likewise of various other deities such as Victoria, 
Flora, and Cybele (3). 

JUNO. 

Besides the cults located in or near the city a record has 
been left of two others whose sanctuaries were some distance 
away. Somewhere in the district surrounding Nola there existed 
in early times a town or village called Celemna, which is men- 
tioned by Vergil in an enumeration of Campanian localities; 
it disappeared entirely as a separate community, but Servius 
states that the place continued to be sacred to Juno (4). In his 
attempt to prove the recent origin of the Juno cult as a result 
of Roman influence in Campania and elsewhere, Otto disre- 
gards this passage as of ino importance (5). Yet while it is 
indefinite, the fact that a shrine stood here apparently as late 
as the Empire, when the town had ceased to exist or at least 
had greatly declined, indicates that both together flourished 
at an early period. As the tendency of a spot once consecrated 
to maintain its sanctity is well known, it is probable that the 
worship of Juno was continued in this shrine long after the 
decay of the community that established it. 

HERCULES. 

More is known about the cult of Hercules, which the 
people of Nola carried on jointly with the residents of Abella; 

(1) C. /. jL. X, 1234: D. Granius Her.... ex imper(io) Dianae d. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 1272 = D. 6351 = Va g reri 1763: L. Sattio L. i. Phileroti 
magistro Mercuriali et Augustalei Nolae, et Daeriae O 1. Rufae uxori etc. — 

(3) Remoncfmi, op. cit. 1, 97, 89, 94. 

(4) Verg. i/4en. VII, 739; Servius* comment: Locus Campaniae est Ce- 
lemna, sacer lunoni, Roscher, Iuno, Roscher II, 605. 

(5) Otto, luno in Philologw LXIV (1905) 174. 

- 381 - 



as the latter city, in spite of its inferior importance, is named 
first in the record it perhaps had a nominal precedence in the 
settlement of affairs connected with the cult. None of this su- 
perority appears, however, in the various provisions for the 
management of the shrine, which are preserved in an impor- 
tant Oscan inscription, the cippus Abellanus (1). These regu- 
lations were drawn up by a superior magistrate of each town 
assisted by a committee selected for this business by the re- 
spective senates. According to the agreement then formulated 
the territory around the shrine and any building erected upon 
it were considered as the joint possession of both; within the 
sacred precinct itself no one was permitted to build, the 
treasury was common property and any division of its funds 
was made on the principle of share and share alike. The 
temple was evidently on the border of the lands held by the 
two cities, but its exact location is unknown. The inscription 
has been assigned to the middle of the second century B. C, 
but contains regulations for a shrine that had long existed. 
Nor is it likely that many of its provisions were innovations (2). 

ROMAN CULTS. 

The Roman colonists at Nola had their official priests two 
of whom, the augur and the pontiff, are recorded in inscrip- 
tions. No individual who held the latter office is known, but 
the name of an incumbent of the former, Fisius Serenus Rutilius 
Caesianus has been preserved in two epitaphs (3). 

The evidence for a Capitolium at Nola is untrustworthy. 
Its presence is definitely asserted in the Acta sancti Felicis 
presbyteri Romani, where the Saint is represented as calling 
upon his persecutors to conduct him into the presence of their 

(1) Buck, No, 1 (with ample commentary); von Planta, No. 127; Con- 
way, No. 95. Cesano, Hercules, Ruggiero, III, 714. 

(2) For references to shrines managed jointly see Buck, Grammar of 
Oscan and Umbrian 228. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 1269: Fisiae Sex. f. Rufinae sorori Fisi Sereni aug(uris) 

Lamm ministri 1. d. d, d. X, 1275: Fisio Sereno Rutilio Caesiano Huiro 

auguri uixit etc. X, 1281 : q. bis, praef. bis, Iluir pontifex .....menta statuas 

d(e) p(ecunia) s(ua) f(ecit) 

- 382 . 



greatest god up on the Capitol (1). But two saints of the same 
name have been confused by the author of this account, and 
acta of this class, which show a tendency to associate a Capitol 
with the various martyrs are in general unreliable. Hence the 
assertions about such a temple in this community must be 
received with scepticism (2). At the same time there is no 
improbability is supposing that it was present. As the city 
was built on level ground, the Capitol, if it existed, was 
doubtless elevated as much as possible by the employment of 
massive substructures; such indeed seems to have been the 
regular mode of procedure in similar circumstances (3). 

The colonists also recognized and revered the protecting 
spirit of their settlement, as is demonstrated by an inscription 
recording the benefactions of C. Catius in honor of the Genius 
of the colony and the colonists (4). The term Genius occurs 
again in a very brief inscription coupled with the Lares. Here, 
as appears from a comparison with the evidence from Pompeii, 
allusion is made to the Genius of the master of the house and 
to the Lares of the system of worship reorganized by Augus- 
tus (5). A body of ministri, who probably served the domes- 
tic cult of a leading citizen, have left a dedication in honor 
of the sister of the augur Fisius Serenus (6). 

THE IMPERIAL CULT. 

The mention of the cult of the Genius offers an easy transi- 
tion to a discussion of the adoration of the Emperor, several 
phases of which have left their traces. Because of the fact 
that Augustus owned here a hereditary estate and here ended 

(1) Acta sanctorum January II, 233. Sed si uuitis probate uirtutem domini 
mei Iesu Christi, me ad Capitolium ire iubete, ut ipsum Iouem principem dae- 
moniorum uestrorum mere faciam. 

(2) Kuhfeldt, De Capiioliis imperii Romani 19; Allard, Les Capitoles 
provinciaux et les actes des martyrs in La science catholique I (1887) 361 ; 
Castan, Les Capitoles provinciaux du monde romain 25. 

(3) See pp. 243. 364. 

(4) C. /. L. X, 1236 = D. 5392: C. Catius M. f. .Hlluir campum publice 
aequandum curauit, maceriem et scholas et solarium, semitam de s. p. f. c. 
Genio coloniae et coJonorum honors causa, quod perpetuo feliciter utantur. 

(5) C. /. L. X, 1235; Genio et Laribus, 

(6) C.J. L. X, 1269. See p. 382 (3). 

- 383 - 



Ills life, the community felt that in him thejr had a deity attach- 
ed to them by special ties, and took a corresponding interest 
in his worship. The Atigustales naturally formed an important 
organization, which was called either simply Atigustales or 
ordo Augustalium. Their activity included the adoration of the 
Victoria Augusta in whose honor they made a dedication. 
The only indication of date ill the three extant inscriptions 
that refer to the organization collectively occurs in a fragment 
belonging in time after J^^J|^jtion of Titus JI). The names 
of at least two of the members have been preserved, both of 
whom seem to have been freedmen (2). 

Another inscription records the name of L. Sattius Phile- 
ros, a magister Mercurialis et Augustalis (3). There is some 
uncertainty as to whether the last word in the man's title should 
be taken as a qualifying adjective with magister or whether it 
refers to a separate office. Mommsen believed that the first 
alternative was true, but this man, who belonged to the liber- 
tini, may well have been an Augustalis as well as an official 
in another department of the Imperial cult. At any rate the 
worship of Mercury here as at Pompeii undoubtedly became 
blended with the cult of Augustus on the basis of the supposed 
resemblance of the Emperor to that deity (4). The inscription 
recording this office is assigned by Dessau on the authority of 
Mommsen to the life time of Augustus. To the same period 
belongs another inscription relating that the Laurinienses, who 
were seemingly the inhabitants of a uicus or pagus in the terri- 
tory of Nola, had restored some object, probably an altar, used 
an the Imperial cult. These people refer to themselves on the 



(1) C. /. L. X, 1237: Victoiiae Aug. Augustales; C. /. L. X, 1249. 
See p. 385 (3). C. /. L. X, 1261 : .... procurator! diui Vespasiani et diui Titi 
Augustales 1, d. <d. d. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 1267: Caesiae Archeni Concus M. Critonio Hipparco Au- 

giistali etc.; C. /. L. X, 1268: L. Caluidio L. 1. Felici Augustali locus datus 

utrisque ex decurion. decret. etc. 

(3) C. /. L. X, I272=D. 6351. See p . 263 f. 

(4) Mommsen, C. /. L. X, p. 142a; Mourlot, Uhistoire de VAugustalite 
dans Y empire romain 81. The inscriptions that present Augustus as Mercurius 
Augustus are collected by de Ruggiero, Mugmstus, Ruggiero I, 926. See p. 264 f. 

- 384 - 



same stone as cultores (I). This inscription, which must be 
dated prior to the death of Augustus because he is not alluded 
to as a Diuus, is accompanied by sculptured reliefs referring to 
a sacrificial scene. 

Above all others devoted to the worship of the Emperor 
was the flamen, who was regularly a man of prominence in civic 
affairs. Among the holders of the priesthood was L. Curiatius, 
who was an army officer (2). To the same cult belonged the 
flamen perpetuus, L. Claudius Pollio Iulianus Iulius Gallicanus, 
who belonged to the senatorial order and filled important offices 
for the Roman people at home and abroad. He lived during the 
later Empire, but although he is named as consul, his date is 
uncertain (3). The exact significance of the word perpetuus in 
this man's title is disputed (4). 

Two places are known to have received consecration in 
honor of Augustus. Immediately after his death the house in 
which he died was converted into a shrine (5). Preparations 
were doubtless made at once looking toward the erection of a 
splendid temple, which was completed only after the lapse of 
some years. When Tiberius determined to retire to the island of 
Capri, one of the pretexts which he announced for visiting the 
region of Campania was the desire to be present at the dedica- 
tion of a temple consecrated to the divine Augustus at Nola. 
This notice fixes the date of the dedication as 26 A. D. (6). 



(1) C. /. L. X, 1238: Augusto sacrum. Restituerunt Laurinienses pecunia 
sua. Cultores d(onum) d(ederunt), Cp. Minervini, Bull Nap. Ill (1845) 102. 
The inscriptions of the various cultores are collected by Breccia, Cultores, 
Ruggiero II, 1296. 

(2) C. /. h. X, 1262: L. Curiatio L. f. flamini diui Augusti prim. pil. trib. 
milit. II praef. castr. praef. fabr. arbitratu Hyacinthi lib. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 1249 = Vaglieri 1484: L. CI. Pollioni Iuliano Iulio Gallicano 
c. u. Xuiro sclitibus (sic) iudicandis quaest. candidato, adlec(to) inter pretor(ios), 
procos. prou. Baetic(ae) legato prou. Asiae, patrono col., flamini perpet(uo), 
ordo Augustal(ium). 

(4) Jullian, Flamen, D.-S. II, 2088; Hirschfeld, Hermes .*XVI (1891) 150; 
Beurlier, he culte impirial 183 f . ; Herbst, De sacerdotiis Romanorum munici- 
palibus 61. 

(5) Dio Cassius LVI, 46, 3 : xaC ot xai ^ iv N(i>Xtq oix£a, dv \ fAexVjXXagsv 
ixsfisvCaGY). 

(6) Tac. arm. IV, 57; Suet. Tib. 40. 

- 385 - 

25 



Beloch locates this temple southwest of the modern city near 
the railroad station where important ruins once existed. For 
this identification, which goes back to the antiquarian Leone, 
an inscription reading templum Augusti was cited, but this 
evidence was rightly classed as spurious by Mommsen (1). 
Such a designation does not fit the sanctuary at Nola; as this 
was finished long after the death of Augustus, it should have 
referred to him as a Diuus. The location of the temple is there- 
fore uncertain. Likewise no evidence exists for maintaining that 
a shrine for the worship of Hadrian was established here (2). 

ORIENTAL RELIGIONS. 

Allusions to the religions that came from the Orient are not 
frequent. Paulinus of Nola, speaking of pagan ceremonies per- 
formed by bands of semiuiri seems to refer to the mysteries of 
Magna Mater as celebrated in his day (3). An epitaph regarded 
by Tamassa as of no great antiquity is partly written in He- 
brew (4). 

The city became an important Christian center but no de- 
tails relative to the establishement or early history of the Church 
have been preserved. At the end of the third or in the fourth 
century lived a priest called Felix, who suffered as a confessor 
of the faith during the persecutions but did not meet the doom 
of a martyr. But he was honored with the tribute due to one who 
had suffered a glorious martyrdom, and received the eulogies of 
the renowned bishop Paulinus, who was devoted to his cult (5). 



(1) C. I. L. X, 174*; Remondini Delia Ndlana ecclesiastica storia, 1, 85; 
Beloch 404. 

(2) Remondini I, 97. 

(3) Paul. Nol. carm. XXXII, 88: Nunc quoque semiuiri mysteria turpia 
plangunt ; Graillot, Le culte de Cybele 551 (5). 

(4) C. /. L. X, 1367; Tamassia, A.tti del r. Inst. Vencto LXIII (1903-4) 807. 

(5) Greg. Tur., glor. mart. CIII ; Aug. cur. mort. XVI; Paul Nol., carm. 
XIV, XVI, XVIII etc. ; Lucius, Die Anfange des Heiligenkalts in der christli- 
chen Kirche 174 (2); Delehaye, Les origines du culte des martyrs 347; Lanzoni, 
Le origini del cristianesimo nella Campania romana in Riv. storico-crit. delle 
scienze teol VI (1910) 280. 

- 386 - 



According to a legend contained in the Acta Sanctorum three 
virgins Archelaa, Thecla said Susanna who had come from 
Rome suffered martyrdom under Diocletian (I). North of Nola 
in a spot called Cimitile was an ancient Christian cemetery which 
has yielded a goodly number of epitaphs, some of which have 
been dated in the fourth century (2). Here St. Felix was buried, 
and over his grave according to the custom of the time was 
reared a basilica (3). 

In the flat, east central portion of the Campanian plain were 
situated the town and tributary country of Acerrae. The town 
itself occupied the site of the modern Acerra. It was a small dis- 
trict, low and swampy as a result of the overflowing of the 
Clanius, and lay between the little district of Atella on the one 
hand and the broad domains of Nola on the other. Its neighbor 
on the north was Suessula ; on the south it touched the borders 
of the Neapolitan territory. Like its nearest neighbors to the 
north and west it was an unimportant place with an uneventful 
history. Subject successively to the power of Samnium and 
Rome, it suffered destruction in the Hannibalic War as a result 
of its loyalty to the latter city, but after the fall of Capua was 
rebuilt. (21 1 B. C.) Beneath its walls the Romans won an im- 
portant battle in the Social War against the attack of Papius 
Mutilus. Its inhabitants were few in the epoch of the Empire, 
though certain veterans of Augustus were settled here (4). 

The few inscriptions dealing with religious matters belong 
exclusively to the Empire, and from one cause or another do not 
afford us any certain information (5). One connected with the 
cult of the Emperors mentions a temple, but the mutilated con- 



(1) Acta sanctorum January II, 555. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 1338-1400. 

(3) Delehaye, l loc. cit. ; H. Holzinger, Die Basilica des Paulinus zu Nola 
in Zeits. fur bildende Kunst XX (1885) 135 f . ; Bertaux, L'ari dans V Italic me- 
ridionale 31 f. 

(4) Beloch 382; Hiilsen, Acerrae, P.-W. I, 154; de Ruggiero, Acerrae 
Ruggiero, I, 25 ; Mommsen, C. /. L. X, p. 362. 

(5) An abbreviated inscription, C. J. L. X, 3758 may belong to the res 
sacrae. It reads C. Fuficio C. f. Fal. Fangoni h. p. aed. ex testamento. The 
supplement is generally made homini probo aedili, but it may also be made 
to read heredes posuerunt aediculam. 

- 387 - 

25* 



dition of the stone renders a sure interpretation impossible (1). 
It evidently contained originally seven iambic senarii flattering 
the ruler, and was due to a primopilaris L. Aurelius Rufus; 
from the mode of designating his legion the inscription is 
assigned to the first century A. D. The words of the first line 
templwn hoc sacratum Her were first completed so as to form 
the word Herculi, but Mommsen's supplements first heroum 
and later heroibus seem more probable and have been generally 
accepted. According to his first opinion the Emperor who is 
flattered here is Domitian; according to his later opinion the 
inscription deals with a shrine of the lares Augusti, where un- 
der the appellation %(*)£<; the grandsons of Augustus, Gaius 
and Lucius Caesar were honored (2). 

The reading of the next inscription is certain, but there is 
some doubt about its provenience. It is an honorary decree 
passed by the ingenui honorati and Augustales in honor of a 
distinguished benefactor of the community Gn. Stennius Egna- 
tius, who was a priest of Isis and Serapis. If the stone really 
belongs to Acerrae, it proves the existence here not only of the 
cult of the Emperors, which was everywhere prevalent, but 
also of the worship of the gods of Egypt, whose presence in a 
little inland town is much more remarkable. Noteworthy is the 
circumstance that the priest was a man of high standing who 
had filled all the municipal offices (3). 

(1) C. /. L. X, 3757=Vaglieri 1133: Templum hoc sacratum hei(oibus 
qui) quod ger(unt) 

Augusta nomen, felix (illis) remaneat, 
stirpis suae laetetur u(t regno) parens. 
Nam quom te, Caesar, tem(pus) exposcet deum 
caeloque repetes sed(em, qua) mundum reges, 
sint hei, tua quel sorte te(rrae) huic imperent 
regantque nos felicibus uoteis sueis. 
L. Aurelius L. f. Pal. Rufus primopilaris etc. ; Minervini, Bull. Nap. 
n. s. IV (1856) 155; Nissen, Inschriften aus Campanien in Hermes I (1866) 151 ; 
de Ruggiero, op. cit., 26. 

(2) Nissen, loc. cit. thought that the ruler to whom alius'on was made 
was Claudius and that there was a vague reference to his successor that would 
include both Nero and Brittanicus. 

(3) C. I. L. X, 3759=Vaglieri 2001 ; Heuresi. Gn. Stennio Egnatio Gn. 
Stenni Egnati Rufi fil. Fal. Primo, iiiiuir(o) iterum q(uin) q(uennali), omnibus 
oneribus et honoribus functo, sac(erdoti) p(ublico) deae Isidis *t gexapidis. 

- 388 - 



The territory of Abella comprised a narrow valley in the 
extreme northeastern part of the Campanian territory, separated 
from Samnium by the lefty Mons Tabernus (Monte Vergine). 
On the south this district was limited by the possessions of 
Nola, a more powerful city with which Abella generally had 
friendly relations. The ancient town site is situated northwest 
of the present Avella at the foot of the mountain already men- 
tioned. Quite overshadowed in importance by its southern 
neighbor Nola, it never became prominent; but, though it always 
remained small and obscure, it possessed the public buildings 
such as theater, basilica, and ampitheater that were regularly 
found in more important places, and carried on an active muni- 
cipal life. 

As a result of the comparative insignificance of Abella, 
reference is seldom made to it in history. As in the case of Nola 
a few writers claimed for it a Chalcidian origin; actually we 
find it first under the control of the Samnites and having definite 
relations with Nofeu After coming under the Roman power it 
continued steadfast in its allegiance at all times with the result 
that during the Social War it was burned by a band from Nola 
(87 B. C). It was made a Roman colony perhaps by Augustus, 
though this matter is quite uncertain. In the fourth century 
Paulinus of Nola praised it as a zealous Christian community (I). 

Information about religious conditions is exceedingly 
scanty. On a series of vases from Abella the relation of the god 
Dionysus to the cult of the dead is particularly noticeable (2). 
The temple of Hercules shared by this town with Nola has been 
already discussed. As the Abellans in spite of the smallness of 
their city are mentioned first in the treaty, this circumstance may 
indicate that their right to the worship and protection of this 
god was considered of paramount importance (3). One inscrip- 
tion mentions an association of the cultores Iouis, who desired 

curat(ori) operum publ., ingenui, honorati et Augustales patrono dignissimo 
etc. The ascription to Acerrae rests on the testimony of one witness (Lupoli) 
alone. Drexler, /sis, Roscher II, 399. 

(!) Beloch 411 f.; Hiilsen, Abella, P.-W. I, 27; de Ruggiero, Abella, 
Ruggiero I, 15; Mommsen, C. /. L. X, p. 136. 

(2) Patroni, La ceramica antica nelVlt. merid. in Atti Nap. XIX (1897-8) 
part. 2, 171. 

(3) See p. 381 L 

* 389 - 



to honor a distinguished benefactor, N. Pettius Rufus, by the 
erection of a statue. The association forms one of a considerable 
number connected with various phases of the god jupiter, as 
revealed by the extant epigraphical evidence. While closely 
associated with the local cult of the god, these people doubtless 
formed a society the principal object of which was to provide 
proper burial for the nembers (1). Another inscription, bearing 
the date of Jan. I, 28 A. D., states that L. Poppaeus Vrbanus 
dedicated to Apollo a statue and pedestal (2). The cult of Venus 
Iouia existed here as at Capua; this is attested by the name of 
one priestess which has been preserved. This woman was called 
officially sacerdos louiae Veneriae Abellanorum (3). A fragment 
seems to allude to an aedicula, but there is no indication to 
show what god was worshipped there (4). 

ROMAN CULTS. 

Religious officials of the Roman colony are represented by 
the mention of an augur in a small fragment of an inscription (5). 
More evidence is available for proving the worship of the Emp- 
erors, but is confined to a few notices relative to the collegium 
of Augustales. M. Plaetorius Onirus was a biselliarius and re- 



(1) C. /. L. X, 1216; N. Pettia N. f. Gal. Rufo Iluir, q. aliment, q. pec. 
publicae curatori frument. cultores Iouis ob meritum eius 1. d. d. d. The in- 
stances of the cultores connected with the worship of Jupiter are collected by 
Breccia, Cultores, Ruggiero II, 1296. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 1196_- = Vaglieri 1027: Ap. Iunio Silano, P. Silio Nerua 
cos., k. Ianuar L. Poppaeus Vrbanus Apolloni signum sacr. sedemque dikauit. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 1207 = Vaglieri 1984 = D. 3186: Auilliae Aeliane, matri 
Egnati Run equitis Romani sacerdoti louiae Veneriae Abellanorum .... The in- 
scription is interpreted by Vaglieri as an allusion to a priestess who served 
both Jupiter and Venus, but the appearance of a priestess of Jupiter is odd; 
Dessau considers that the form sacerdotis is meant in the inscription with a 
reference to Egnatius Rufus as priest. But it seems more probable that the 
intention of the writer of the inscription was to express the name of a god- 
dess identical with the Venus Iouia worshipped at Capua or at least similar 
to her. 

(4) C. /. L. X, 1197. 

(5) C. /. L. X, 1203. 

- 390 - 



ceived the distinction of the ornamenta decurionalia (1). This 
community at first had officials called magistri Augustales, one 
of whom Q. Calidius Epaphroditus is recorded in an epitaph. 
This man held also the position of quaestor probably in the 
same collegium. The inscription belongs to the first century as 
no magistri of the Augustales are cited later than that period (2). 

SUESSULA. 

The location of Suessula is determined by the Tabula Peu~ 
tingerana, which places it nine miles from Capua and the same 
distance from Nola. It lay therefore on an important branch of 
the uia Appia between the two great inland cities of Campania 
a little to the west of the modern town of Cancello, where in a 
place called Bosco d'Acerra considerable remains were still in 
existence in the eighteenth century. Its territory, which was 
bounded on the south by that of Acerrae, had its greatest extent 
toward the north and in that direction reached to the borders 
of Samnium. As it stood at the entrance to the Fauces Caudinae, 
it was a place of strategic importance, but the ground itself in 
this locality has always been low, and is at present largely a 
swamp. 

The first mention of the town in history occurs in connec- 
tion with the events of 338 B. C, when the citizens received 
from Rome the privilege of limited citizenship. Afterward it is 
frequently referred to in the wars against the Samnites and 
against Hannibal, in which it formed the base of the Roman 
operations in Campania. It received a colony from Sulla. In the 
early Middle Ages it is mentioned not infrequently, but at last 
was deserted by its inhabitants because of the prevalence of 
malaria (3). 

(1) C. I. L. X, 1217 = Vaglieri 1986: N. Plaetorio Oniro, Augustali bisel- 
liario, honorato ornamentis decurionalibus populus Abellanus aere conlato, 
quod auxerit ex suo ad annonariam pecuniam etc. Mourlot, Essai sur Vhist. 
de VAugustalite 98. 

(2) C. /. L. X, 1209=:Vagiieri 1985: Diis manib. Q. Calidius EpapW 
ditus, magister Aug(ustalium), quaestor uiuos sibi et Critoniae uxori. Hoc m. 
s. s. est h. n. s. Von Premerstein, Augustales, Ruggiero I, 836. It is possible 
that this inscription comes from Nola. 

(3) Beloch 385; F. Lenormant, Les fouilles de Suessula in Gaz. des 
beaux-arts XXI (1880) 105; Mommsen, C. /. L. X, p. 363. 

- 391 - 



All the information about the religion of Suessula that has 
come down to us is contained in a single inscription; this is a 
dedication made by the cultores of Jupiter Optimus Maximus 
in honor of a patron L. Pompeius Felicissimus (1). This person- 
age, who was a man of prominence in the community, is 
described as an immunis dendrophorus and as a sacerdos of the 
Great Mother. In other words he received his position in the 
association without any payment on his part, and as happened 
elsewhere was interested in two phases of the cult of the great 
Phrygian deity. As elsewhere too in southern Italy he held his 
appointment as priest by virtue of an authorization on the part 
of the Roman board of quindecemuiri, who had the oversight of 
this religion in the various Italian towns (2). The shrine of Magna 
Mater, however, was not located in the town of Suessula itself, 
but stood four or five miles away in a tributary village called 
Vicus Nouanensis, which was situated in the northern part of the 
territory belonging to Suessula (3). The site of the temple was 
perhaps the hill upon which now stands the church of S. Maria 
in Vico. Here then as in other localities in Campania and the 
vicinity the goddess was venerated as a hill goddess and as a 
divinity connected with healing waters (4). As at Capua she 
seems to have been revered on the same mountain that bore a 
shrine of Jupiter, so here her cult was intimately associated with 
that of the same god, and her representative was honored by the 
association which bore his name (5). 

(1) C. /. L. X, 3764=D. 6341=Vaglieri 1966: L. Pompeio Feiicissimo 
immuni dendr. Suessul(ae) et sacerd(oti) M(atris) d(eum) xvuir(inali) et q. alim. 
et omnibus rebus ac munerib(us) perfuncto, cultor(es) I(ouis) o(ptim)i S(ues- 
sulani? Hortensens (sic) patron, b. m., ob sing erga se liberaJitatem et prae- 
stantiam 1. d.d. (sic). The epithet applied to Jupiter is uncertain on account 
of the abbreviation. Besides the supplement suggested in the text, s(anctissimi) 
is sometimes given. For the cultores of this ^od see p. 389. 

(2) The instances of investiture at the hands of the quindecimuiri are 
collected by Graillot, Le culte de Cybele 228. See p. 88 and the references 
there. 

(3) This place was called later Mutation Nouae (Itiner. Hierosol.) and 
Ad Nouas (Tabula Puet.) 

(4) Graillot, op. cit. 246, 419, 433. Local tradition attests the presence of 
a temple on this site; Beloch 388. 

(5) Graillot 435 (4). 

- 392 - 



LITERNUM. 

Liternum was situated on the Campanian coast about half 
way between Cape Misenum and the mouth of the Volturnus 
River, where today stands the tower and village of Tor di Pa- 
tria. Its situation was unhealthy because of the stagnation of 
the water formed by the lower course of the Clanius River, 
which at that time found its way to the sea with great difficulty. 
The shore, flat, sandy and marshy, has always been covered 
with woods, the ancient silua Gallinaria. Since the location of 
the town was so unfavorable, it never became important, and 
its designation in the early Empire is ignobilis (I). It first appears 
in history at the end of the Second Punic War as one of the ten 
units under the jurisdiction of the praefectus Capuam Cumas. It 
became a Roman colony the same year that settlers were sent 
to Puteoli and Vulturnum, its neighbor to the north. (1^4 B. C). 
Here Scipio Africanus (the Elder) possessed a villa to which he 
retired when he gave up public life, and here he died. During 
the Empire the town continued to exist, but is mentioned only 
by the geographers (2). 

GREEK AND ROMAN DEITIES. 

The only literary reference to Liternum that is connected 
in any way with religion is a vague allusion in the poem of Silius, 
who in his account of Hannibal's arrival in Campania states 
that the leader viewed the homes and temple of swampy Liter- 
num (3). But here the author probably had in mind no real 
temple, and merely mentioned such a building as a preliminary 
to his description of the deeds of Roman heroes, which osten- 
sibly were pictured there. 

(1) Val. Max. V, 3. 2, 

(2) For the history and geography of th ; s place see Nissen, It, Landesk 
II, 713-5; Mommsen, C. /. L. X, p. 356; Beloch 377. 

(3) Sil. VI, 653-657: 

Hie dum stagnosi spectat templumque domosque 
Literni ductor, uaria splendentia cernit 
pictura belli patribus monumenta prioris 
exhausti-nam porticibus signata manebant - 
quis inerat longus rerum et spectabilis ordo. 

- 393 - 



An inscription, discovered in this district, mentions the 
distinguished actor of pantomimes L. Aurelius Apolaustus as 
a parasitus and sacerdos of Apollo; these positions, however, 
were held in connection with the society of actors which had 
its headquarters in Rome, and have nothing to do with Inter- 
num (I). Venus gave her name to a bathing establishment, 
which was restored in the fourth century A. D. by Domitius 
Seuerianus, governor of the province, but has left no traces of 
her cult (2). 

MAGNA MATER. 

A mutilated inscription discovered in this vicinity in 1885 
alludes to the cult of Magna Mater, and contains the term 
sacerdos and a part of the phrase condidit uires regularly used 
in reference to the taurobolium (3). The meaning of the latter 
expiession is not entirely clear on account of the indefiniteness 
of the word uires. According to one interpretation it has refer- 
ence especially to the blood of the bull which the initiated 
received and regarded as a potent means of regeneration. Gen- 
erally it is understood as signifying some specific portion of 
the bull's anatomy, particularly the genital organs, which in 
such a case was considered sacred (4). 

It has been ^supposed that the words in the inscription im- 
mediately before condidit were originally ad Hamas, an allusion 
to the small village east of Cumae which is treated elsewhere. 

(1) C. /. L. X, 3716 = D. 5189. This actor, whose full name was L. Aelius 
Aurelius Apolaustus Memphis, was a freedman of Marcus Aurelius and V*. 
rus, and is mentioned in six inscriptions. See p. 356 and the references there 
cited. 

(2) N. S. 1885, 80 = £. E. VIII, 456 = D. 5693: Balneum Veneris lon(gi 
tempo)ris uetustate corruptum Domitius Seuerianus u. c. cons(olaris) Campa- 
niae ad pristinam faciem (aedin)cauit, curante hac (sic) dedican(te) Sentio 
Marso u. c. comite diuinorum, curatore Capuensium, Literni(norum) et Cu- 
manorum. 

(3)JV. S. 1885, 8I=£. E. 455: sacerdos...... Matris deum hamas 

condidit. 

(4) Zppel, Das Taurobolium in Festchrift fur Friedlander 502 f. ; Gohler, 
De Matris Magnae apud Romanos cultu 55 ; Esperandieu, Taurobolium, D.-S. 
V, 49; C. H. Moore The Distribution of Oriental Cults in Trans, and Proc. of 
the Am. Phil Assoc. XXXVIII (1907) 132; Fiorelli, N. S. 1885, 81. 

- 394 -- 



It seems more probable, however, to assign the temple to Litern- 
um itself rather than to the little village of Hamae, and to consid- 
er that before condidit stood the name of the man who received 
the energy of the bull from the ceremony of the taurobolium. 
At any rate a cult and shrine were found in this region. Graillot 
supposes that this was a very old foundation, the work of the 
first Roman colonists (1). But this would take it back to a time 
only ten years later than the official arrival of the goddess in 
Rome. It would be necessary to assume a wide popularity im- 
mediately among the citizenship of Rome; otherwise when a 
few hundred colonists were sent to Liternum there would be no 
likelihood that any considerable proportion of them would be 
interested in the cult. As a matter of fact, though the Italian 
municipalities followed the example of the capital in recog- 
nizing the legality of the new cult, it seems at first to have pro- 
gressed slowly in winning adherents outside of the lowest clas- 
ses (2). It is more natural to suppose that at Liternum, where 
there was no large foreign element, the cult was fairly late, 
and introduced only when it had become fairly well established 
elsewhere in Campania. 



(J) Grallot, Le culte de Cybele 432. 

(2) Von Domaszewski, Magna Mater in Latin Inscriptions in Jour. Rom. 
Stud. I (1911) 50. 

- 395 - 



ADDENDA. 

A considerable number of inscriptions, for the most part 
broken and badly mutilated, are preserved in the National Mu- 
seum of Naples and elsewhere without any indication of the 
source from which they came. In the Corpus of Latin inscriptions 
they are included with those from Puteoli, although the author 
of this part of the work states that their provenience is uncer- 
tain (1). Most writers who have had occasion to cite this evidence 
assign it definitely to Puteoli, — an inaccuracy without impor- 
tant consequences for a general study of the different cults but 
inadmissible in a detailed investigation of the separate localities. 
Hence it has seemed better to treat here this class of inscriptions. 



JUPITER. 

An Oscan cult of ljupiter is mentioned in an inscription 
which Dubois without warrant assigns to Puteoli and de Rug- 
giero erroneously declares to have been unearthed at Pompeii. 
Capasso, differing from both the others, assigns the cult to Nea- 
polis (2). This notice relates that T. FJauius Antipater in com- 
pany with his wife and a freedman Alcides gave images of 
Aesculapius and Hygia as votive offerings to a Jupiter Flazzus or 
Flazius (3). The significance of his epithet is not well understood, 
but hats been interpreted on the basis of a connection with 
fiagare and cpXs^siv. The god is evidently one of the various 
deities of the bright sky found so frequently throughout Italy, 
and is similar to the Jupiter Flagius who was worshipped at 



(1) The index of C. /. L. X, which includes all these under Puteoli, is 
very misleading. 

(2) Dubois, Pouzzoles antique* 138 and Cuttes et dieux a Pouzzales in Me- 
langes XXII (1902) 30; De Ruggiero, Flazzus, Ruggiero HI, 161 Capasso, Na- 
poli greco-romana 61 ; Capaccio, Historia Neapolitana I, 212. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 1571 =D. 3852 = Vaglieri 1107: T. Flauius Antipater una 
cum Flauia Artemisia uxore et Alcide (liberto) Asclepium et Hygiam Ioui 
Flazzo uotum. T. Flauius Antipater una cum Flauia Artemisia uxore Ioui 
Flazio uotum soluit. Alcide is treated as feminine in Ruggiero III, 161. 

- 396 - 



Capua (1). Mancini saw a proof of the fact that this god was a 
solar divinity in the circumstance that he received as offerings 
the statuettes of Aesculapius and Hygia. But, although in the 
Greek cult the sun gods Apollo and Aesculapius were associa- 
ted, there is no such bond of union to be sought here, as the 
donation of statues of one god in honor of another was a custom 
too widely spread to require a specific explanation in this in- 
stance (2). 

DIANA LOCHEIA. 

Diana Locheia appears upon 1 an inscription that was assign- 
ed without cause to Puteoli by Dubois, but which on account of 
the Greek name of the dedicator and the Greek epithet applied to 
the goddess might be attributed as readily to Neapolis, where 
the vessel containing the record once formed the mouth of a 
well (3). The supplement Loch(eia) was not favored by Momm- 
sen, but no other is at hand; the half Latinized title seems 
in fact to be the result of an amalgamation between the Greek 
Artemis Locheia and the Latin Diana Lucina both of whom 
were goddesses who presided over childbirth. Dubois plausibly 
suggests that the dedicator of the vessel, who styles herself 
Graecia Rufa Pompon., was a foreigner from the Orient (4). 
Sculptured reliefs contain figures of Paris, Helen, Venus and 
three Muses (5). 

(1) Wissowa, b'lazzus, P.-W. VI, 2740; Steuding, Flazzus, Roscher I, 
1483. Mazzocchi wrote a dissertation in eight chapters (published in 1830 by 
the Accademia Ercolanese) to show that this god was similar to Jupiter Ve- 
suvius. 

(2) Mancini, Giornale degli scavi di Pompei n. s. HI, 206; Dubois, loc. 
cit.; Gruppe; 1443. 

(3) C. J. L. X, 1555: Graecia P. f. Rufa Pompon. Dianae Loch(eiae) s. 
p. s. c. p. s. The abbreviations are obscure. According to Jahn, Ber. der sacks. 
Ges. der Wissens. II (1850) 185 n., the inscription is more recent than the 
vessel upon which it is inscribed. 

(4) Dubois, 142 Cp. Hofer, Locheia, Roscher II, 2072; Wissowa, Diana, 
P.-W. 334. 

(5) Jahn, op. cit. 184; The sculptures, which are of a high order of mert, 
are portrayed in Specimens of Ancient Sculpture by the Society of Dilettanti, 
London II, PI. 16. The marble formed originally the TCSptOTtfjAtov of a well, 
but was afterwards converted into a vase. 

- 397 - 



BONA MENS. 



This divinity is recorded in a dedication first heard of in 
Naples. It was attributed by Henzen to Paestum because of the 
well known cult there, and by Mommsen hesitatingly to Puteoli. 
It commemorates the work of two freedmen Cn. Cornelius Papia 
and L. Galonius Agathocles, who were serving as magistri (1). 
The worship of this goddess here as in other localities was carried 
on by the lower classes of society (2). 



DEUS PATRIUS. 

A number of inscriptions contain allusions to a deity called 
deus patrius whose identity is not clear. One in honor of Veratus 
Seuerianus announces that he gave a series of amusements in 
honor of the festival of deus patrius occurring Jan. 1 (3). The 
origin of this inscription is doubtful. It was assigned by Momm- 
sen to Cumae, but this manner of disposal has been questioned, 
because duumuiri rather than praetors are named as magis- 
trates (4). A second inscription dealing with the same divinity was 
found at Misenum; it records the liberality of a curator of the 
Augustales named L. Laecaenius Primitiuus, who made dona- 
tions to his fellow citizens, one of which was connected with 
a festival of deus patrius (peruigilium) on the twelfth day of 
February 165 A. D. (5). A sacerdos immunis of this god, who 
belonged also to the Augustales, seems to be alluded to in a 



(1) C. /. L. X, 1550; Cn. Cornelius Cn. 1, Papia, L. Galonius L. 1. Aga- 
thocl(es) mag(istri) Bonae Menti d. s. fac. coer. 

(2) Cp. Wissowa 313; Axtell, Deification of Abstract Ideas in Roman 
Literature 24; Preller-Jordan II, 265; Peter, Mens, Roscher II, 2798. 

(3) C. /. L. X, 3704 = D.<5054 = Vagliexi 2138. 

(4) Dubois 40 (1). For attempts to assign the inscription to other places 
as Abella and Neapolis see Gervasio, Iscrizioni di Napoli in Mem. delta r. ac~ 
cad, ercdl. V, 95. 

(5) C. /. L. X, 1881 =D. 6328, who assigns it to Puteoli. The same as- 
signment is made by von Premerstein Augustales, Ruggiero I, 856. 

- 398 - 



fragment (I). Finally Iulius Secundus Faonius in payment of 
a vow made some dedication to the same god (2). The last two 
inscriptions were unearthed near Puteoli and along with the 
preceding one were thought by Mommsen to belong to that 
city. But Dubois considers that the deity called deus patrius was 
an expression for the Genius coloniae of Misenum, a deity never 
mentioned in the usual way ; hence with considerable probability 
he has attributed all the inscriptions to that town. He shows 
furthermore that the name Laecaenius belongs to the district 
around Cumae (3). 

The generous L. Laecaenius Primitiuus mentioned above 
held the office of curator of the Augustales, which has not appear- 
ed elsewhere in Campania. Besides the donation already men- 
tioned he bestowed property upon the Augustales, who in both 
cases appear in the form corporati. (4) Another inscription con- 
tains the name of P. Aemilius Conon, who is described as an 
Augustalis corporatus (5). This is usually assigned to Puteoli. 
There are three, other references to Augustales: the epitaph of 
T. Marcius Taur(us), a fragment mentioning an Augustalis 
immunis, and a fragment recording the erection of a temple of 
the Victoria Augusta by a freedman Phileros who filled this 
post (6). The last inscription preserves the name of a second 
member of the association called Atticus, who set up the stone. 
One fragment refers to Hercules Augustus, another to Fortuna 
Publica and to a priest of Claudius, who here received divine 



(1) C. I L. X, 1805. 

(2) C. /. L. X. 1553. 

(3) Dubois 40 (1) 148; Dessau, comment on No. 6328. Var'ous conjec- 
tures were made by older scholars to explain this god. According to one view 
Julius Caesar was meant; according to another, Hercules. Orelli Inscriptiones 
Lohnae No. 2533. A deus patrius accurs in an inscription of Ostia (C. /. L. 
XIV, 3), where he has been tentatively associated with Vulcan. Dessau, No. 
3299 ; Taylor, Cults of Ostia 20 ; Wissowa 224 (8). 

(4) C. /. L. X, 1880. 

(5) C. J. L. X, 1870. 

(6) C. /. L. X, 1884, 1891, 1887. The last inscription is assigned to Pu- 
teol by von Premerstein, Ruggiero I, 835 and by Babelon, Ktctoria, D.-S. V, 
842, but is marked as uncertain by Dubois 144 (6). 

- 399 - 



honors during his lifetime. It bears the date of 46 A. D. (1). 
Other inscriptions preserve the names of Mosculus, a pontiff and 
flamen of Augustus, of L. Bouius Celer, an augur, C. Minatius 
Bithus, an aug(ur) or Aug(ustalis), and of Rufinus, a har- 
uspex (2). 

The Lares appear in two inscriptions at Naples, one of 
which is a brief dedication by an individual, the other, a dedi- 
cation by four magistri (3). They comprise two freedmen and 
two slaves engaged as magistri uici in the worship of the Lares 
Augusti. The inscription is dated in the year 1 A. D. Though 
assigned by Wissowa to Puteoli, its origin can not now be de- 
termined (4). 

A statue of Magna Mater of unknown origin is at present 
in the court of the National Museum at Naples. The figure of 
the goddess which is below life size, is represented as seated 
on a throne flanked by two lions (5). A fragmentary inscription 
records a part of the list of gods who were thought to preside 
over the days of the week (6). 

Several other fragments of inscriptions dealing with religion 
are extant (7). 



(?) C. /. L. X, 1558, 1570. 

(2) C. J. L. X, 1806, 1685, 1895. Cp. also X, 961. Celer is assigned to 
Puteoli by Spinazzola, Gli augures 150. 

(3) C. /. h. X, 1580, 1582. 

(4) Wissowa 173 (2). 

(5) Graillot, Le culte de Cybele 432 (5); Reinach, Repertoire de la sta- 
tuaire grecque et romaine II, p. 271, No. 2, Amdt-Amelung, Einzelaufnahmen 
antiker Sculpturen, No. 533. 

(6) C. /. L. X, 1605. 

(7) C. /. L. X, 1599, 1600, 1602, 1610, 1606, 1611, 1612. 

- 400 - 



INDEX 



Abella 381, 389 

Acerrae 387 

Achelous 203 f. 

Aenaria 220 f. 

Aeneas 13, 55, 303. 

Aesculapius 229, 240 f., 386 ; at Puteoli 

109 f. 
Antoninus Pius, temple of at Puteoli 131. 
Aphrodite Euploia 199. 
Apollo 10. 380, 390; at Capua 355; at 

Cumae 50 ff.; at Neapolis 182 ff.; at 

Nuceria 292; at Pompeii 227 ff.; at 

Puteoli 103 ff.; at Rome 24 f . ; on 

Aenaria 220. 
Artemis, at Cumae 61 f. ; at Neapolis 

170, 202. 
Athena 16, 355, 380; at Neapolis 197 f. ; at 

Pompeii 233 ff. ; near Surrentum 306 ff. 
Augurs, at Abella 390; at Capua 361; at 

Nola 382; at Pompeii 242; at Puteoli 

117; at Surrentum 314. 
Augustales 35, 82, 388, 390, 398; at 

Capua 370 ; at Herculaneum 287 ; at 

Misenum 94; at Neapolis 209; at Nola 

384; at Nuceria 297; at Pompeii 267 

f.; at Puteoli 124 ff. 
Augustus 383 f., cult of at Capua 80 f.; 

at Neapolis 209; at Pompeii 261 ff.; 

at Puteoli 125 ff. ; at Stabiae 298. 
Avernus 74 f. 

Bacchus 30, 273. 
Baiae 84 ff. 
Bauli 85. 
Bellona 142. 



Berytus 147. 

Bona Dea, at Puteoli 112. 

Bona Mens 398. 

Campania, boundaries of 2 ; during 
later Republic 29 f. ; progress of religion 
under Empire 34 f. 

Capitoline Triad, at Capua 362 ff.; at 
Pompeii 242 ff. 

Capitolium 243 f.; 363 f.; 382 f. 

Capreae 315 f. 

Capua 317 ff.; shrine of Diana near 6. 

Capys 359. 

Castor and Pollux 350, 353; at Capua 
343 ff.; at Cumae 66 ; at Neapolis 187 
ff.; at Puteoli 113. 

Ceres 7, 251, 310, 350, 353, 379; at 
Capua 334 f. ; at Pompeii 230 f. ; at 
Puteoli 105 f. 

Christianity 39 f., 301, 386; at Capua 
375 f.; at Neapolis 219 f. ; at Nu- 
ceria 297; at Pompeii 281 ; at Pu- 
teoli 162 ff. 

Concordia 123, 262. 

Cora 11, 379. 

Cumae 45 ff, 

Dea Syria 150, 155. 

Demeter 1 0, 334 ; at Cumae 64 f. ; at 
Neapolis 185 ff.; at Rome 25 f. 

Dendrophori 89 f . ; 139 ff. 

Deus Patrius 398. 

Diana 6, 301, 350, 353, 380; at Capua 
322 ff.; 365 f . ; at Pompeii 228 f.; 
at Puteoli (?) 115; Locheia 397. 



401 - 



Dicaearchia 10! ; see Puteoli. 

Dionysus 11, 379, 389; at Cumae 70 f.; 

at NeapoKs 194 ff.; at Pompeii 239; 

at Puteoli 143 ff. 
Dioscuri 1 1 , 66, 293 ff. ; at Neapolis 187 ff. 
Diovis 5. 

Doiichenus 95 f., 149, 216. 
Dusares 151 f. 

Egyptian Deifies 31. 136, 288, 

301, 388; at Capua 371 ; at Neapolis 
214 ff.; at Pompeii 272 ff.; at Puteoli 
133 ff. 

Epidius 296. 

Etruscan influences 8 f. 

Eumachia 252. 

Feliciias 248. 

Festivals 36 f. 

Flora 240. 

Fortuna 7, 248, 286, 341, 350 ; at Capua 

343; at Neapolis 207 f.; at Pompeii 

261; at Puteoli 122. 

Games, of Augustus at Neapolis 209. 
Genius, at Capua 366, 369; at Hercula- 

neum 286; at Nola 383; at Pompeii 

255 ; at Puteoli 1 18 ff., 157 ; at Stabiae 

298 f. 
Gods of the Days of the Week 400; at 

Pompeii 279; at Puteoli 159. 
Greek cults, introduction of 10 f. 

Hadrian, games in honor of at Puteoli 

130. 
Hamae 98. 

Harpocrates 276, 288. 
Haruspex 94. 
Hebon 194. 
Heliopolitanus 146. 
Hephaestus 113. 
Hera 66. 
Heracles 14; at Cumae 69; at Neapolis 

191 ff.; at Rome 22. 
Herculaneum 282 ff. 
Hercules 350, 381 f., 389; at Capua 346 

ff. ; at Herculaneum 284 ; at Neapolis 



191 ff., at Pompeii 232 f . ; at Puteoli 
108; at Stabiae (?) 299; near Surren- 
tum 311 f. 

Herentas 236, 285. 

Honor 122. 

Hygia, 286, 396; at Puteoli 109 f. 

Imperial Cull 34 f., 387 ; at Ca- 
pua 79 ff., 370 f. ; at Herculaneum 287 
f. ; at Neapolis 209 ff. ; at Nola 383 ff.;. 
at Pompeii 261 ff.; at Puteoli 123 ff. 

Ischia 220. 

Isis, 31, 136, 288, 301, 388; at Pompeii 
272 ff. 

Judaism, at Capua 374 ; at Neapolis 
218; at Pompeii 280; at Puteoli 160 ff. 

Juno 5, 313, 381 ; at Capua 336 ff., 362; 
at Nuceria 393 ff. ; at Pompeii 242 
ff.; Gaura 336, 350; Lucina337, 340. 

Jupiter 5, 390, 396 ; at Capua 329 ff., 
362 ff.; at Cumae 48 f.; at Hercu- 
laneum 284 ; at Misenum 93 ; at Pom- 
peii 224 ff., 243 ff., 279; at Puteoli 
102, 118; Compagus 331, 350; Da- 
mascene 149; Doiichenus 95, 149 
Flagius 329; Flszzus 5, 330, 396 
Heliopolitanus 146;, Liber 331, 350 
Milichius 224 ff , 243 ; Optimus Maxi- 
mum 243, 362, 368, 392; Vesuvius 
332. 

LareS 255, 354, 369, 400 ; Compitales 

255. 
Leucothea 200 f. 
Liber 143 ff. 
Liparus 313. 
Liternum 393. 
Luna 279. 

MagiSiri 324, 332, 335, 343, 344, 

348 ff. 

Magna Mater 392, 394, 400; at Baiae 
87 f.; at Capua 372 f.; at Hercula- 
neum 289; at JPompeii 278; at Puteoli 
138 ff. 

Maia 239, 263. 

Mars, at Capua 342; at Pompeii 254, 279. 



, 402 



Mefites 358. 

Mercury 228, 356; at Pompeii 237 ff., 

263 f., 279; at Puteoli 114. 
Minerva, at Capua 362 ff., at Pompeii 

233 ff., 242 ff. ; near Surrentum 306 ff. 
Misenum 93 f. 
Mithras 38, 220, 316; at Neapolis 217; 

at Puteoli 157 ff. 
Mother Goddess of the Fondo Pattureiii 

near Capua 338 ff. 
Mt. Tifata 6, 317, 322. 

Narcissus 240. 

Naples 166 ff. 

Neapolis 166 ff. 

Nemesis 360. 

Neptune 357; at Baiae 86; at Pompeii 
237; at Puteoli 107 f . ; near Surren- 
tum 311. 

Nitrodes 220. 

Nola 377 ff. 

Nuceria 291 ff. 

Nymphs 72 ; at Puteoli 111 f . ; on Aena- 
ria 220. 

Oracle of Sibyl at Cumae 57 f. 
Oriental Cults 37 f., 228, 316, 386; at 

Cumae 83 f.; at Pompeii 272 ff . ; at 

Puteoli 131 ff. 
Oscan deities, traces of 225, 235 f., 285. 

324, 329, 334, 338, 339, 342, 396. 

Pagi 349 ff. 

Pagus Herculaneus 331, 347, 350 ff. 

Pan 240. 

Parthenope 174 ff., 304. 

Paul, St., at Puteoli 160, 162. 

Penates 257. 

Phratry Gods, at Cumae 47 f. ; at Puteoli 

168 ff. 
Pithecussae 220 f. 
Pluto 300, 361. 
Pollius 312. 
Pompeii 222 ff. 
Pozzolana 100. 
Puteoli 99 ff. 



Roman CullS, at Herculaneum 286 ; 
at Pompeii 242. 

Si- Elmo 191. 

St. Paul 160, 162, 190. 

Salus 241. 

S. Giovanni Maggiore 193. 

Sant'Angelo in Formis 323. 

S. Polo Maggiore 188 f. 

Sarnus 241, 291, 295. 

Saturn 279. 

Sebethus 203. 

Serapis 133, 388. 

Sibyl, of Cumae, 55 f. 

Silvanus 357. 

Sirene 181. 

Sirens 14, 174 f., 303 ff. 

Sol 279. 

Solfatara 113, 161. 

Sorrento 302 ff. 

Spes Fides and Fortuna 350. 

Stabiae 291 f., 298. 

Suessula 391. 

Surrentum 302 ff. 

Taurobolium 156, 156 note 3. 

Telephus 358. 

Tiberius 314, 315, 366, 385. 

Torch race 177. 

Tyre 153 ff. 

Urania 155. 

VenUS 6, 228,285, 310; at Pompeii 
236, 246 ff., 275, 279; at Puteoli 
109; Felix 247; Fisica 247; Herentas 
236, 285 ; Iovia 338, 350, 390 ; Pom- 
peiana 246 ff. 

Vesta 255. 

Victoria 357. 

Vicus Nouanensis 392. 

Virgo Caelestis 155. 

Voiturnus 42, 317, 360. 

ZeuS, at Cumae 48 f. ; at Neapolis 182; 
at Pompeii 224 ff. 



403 -